When you’re acting alongside a legendary actor like Harrison Ford, you’re bound to get nervous, right? That’s exactly what happened with The Whale star Brendan Fraser while filming for Extraordinary Measures. However, Ford knew just the way to calm Fraser down and get the scene done.
Brendan Fraser on Meeting Harrison Ford
Brendan Fraser revealed the first time he met Harrison Ford during Spike TV‘s Brass Balls Award. While speaking with Vulture in 2010, Fraser revealed-
“We met onstage at the Spike TV Awards; I was selling mummy warriors and he was selling crystal skulls. It was my duty, my obligation, to present him with Spike TV’s Brass Balls Award. I later met him to read [for Extraordinary Measures] in an office and I was feeling it out — I wasn’t sure if I was getting hired or not — and I said, ‘I gotta ask, so whatever became of the Brass Balls?’ He said, ‘Nah, I sold them for scrap metal.’’’
In a 2010 interview regarding their film together, an LA journalist asked Harrison Ford about what Fraser brought to the table when it came to the process of casting. Ford had nothing but great things to say about The Mummy actor.
“What Brendan brought, from the very first time we read through material together and when we talked about it, was an authenticity. He didn’t attempt an imitation of John Crowley. He just reached into his own experience and his own emotions and understood, and because he understood and because he felt, he’s had a lot of experience. He may downplay it but he’s had a lot of opportunities and experience to work with good people in the past and he’s learned how to do it really well.”
Harrison Ford further added that he had a “great time” working with Fraser on Extraordinary Measurers. He said, “It was fun.”
Harrison Ford Helped Brendan Fraser Relax
Fraser was certainly spellbound by Ford’s acting and aura while shooting for Extraordinary Measures. Fraser told a tabloid how he wasn’t able to remember his line even after 15 tries. Being a huge fan of Indiana Jones‘ star, Fraser was caught with nerves and Ford came up with a hilarious solution to get him through the scene. He recalled how Ford borrowed a sharpie and duct tape and taped Fraser’s line to his forehead which got a huge laugh from the crew.
“It was hysterical, but it totally defined Harrison. His philosophy on acting is ‘Do it, and do it right.”
While adding to this, Ford assured that he did not mean to embarrass anyone and was only trying to calm Fraser down.
“Every once in a while, an actor gets stuck on something, and he just needs to relax. I was just trying to get him to relax. Acting is all about being comfortable.”
Ford recalled Marlon Brando’s philosophy about acting.
“Marlon Brando once said that an actor can’t care about anything or the audience will see it on his face.”
His tactic clearly worked and the two were eventually able to put the scene behind them. He added-
“Maybe Brendan was caring too much.”
Extraordinary Measures (2010) was based on a true story which was adapted from a book called The Cure. Brendan played the character of John Crowley, a father of two kids suffering from a rare genetic disease known as Pompe disease. While there is no known cure for the disease, John tries his best to make sure he can save his kids from this suffering. He quits his corporate job and seeks out a research doctor, Robert Stonehill, played by Harrison Ford, who has been working on a cure to fight the disease.
