- Brendan Fraser said his diet for the 1997 film "George of the Jungle" messed with his memory.
- In a Variety "Actors on Actors" discussion, he told Adam Sandler he was "starved of carbohydrates."
Brendan Fraser said he was so "starved of carbohydrates" while filming the 1997 comedy "George of the Jungle" that it messed with his memory.
Fraser, who stars in "The Whale," reminisced about his role and diet for "George of the Jungle" during a discussion with his former "Airheads" costar Adam Sandler for a Variety "Actors on Actors" conversation published on Tuesday.
The film, which also starred Leslie Mann and John Cleese, was a spoof of the Tarzan story. Fraser played a man who was raised by apes after a plane crash stranded him in an African jungle as a baby.
Sandler noted how "jacked" Fraser got for the role. "I was disappointed how good you looked in that," Sandler joked. "You weren't supposed to do that to us."
"The wardrobe was that there was no wardrobe," Fraser said in defense of his look in the film. "George eats bananas and swings around all day and wears a loincloth."
"You did right by the character, but you did wrong by us, man," Sandler continued. "You made us feel bad about ourselves."
This prompted Fraser to discuss the realities of achieving his character's muscular-but-lean build for the film.
"I was waxed, greased, starved of carbohydrates," the 54-year-old actor recalled. "I would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat.
"And I needed some cash one day, and I went to the ATM, and I could not remember my PIN number because my brain was misfiring," he continued.
Fraser mimicked flying into a rage and told Sandler he was "banging on the thing" out of frustration.
"I didn't eat that night," he added.
Sandler mentioned how difficult it is for actors who have to follow a strict diet or workout regimen for months to get in shape for a role.
Their conversation then moved on to Fraser's new movie, "The Whale," in which he plays a man with an eating disorder. "My heart was broken throughout the whole movie," Sandler said.
During a recent interview with his longtime friend Freddie Prinze Jr. for Interview magazine, Fraser spoke about his process of transforming into Charlie, a reclusive, obese English teacher who struggles to connect with his estranged daughter throughout the critically acclaimed film.
Fraser said that while he used prosthetics to physically transform into his character, he was also able to draw on personal experience to get into Charlie's mindset.
"I have three kids of my own. My oldest son, Griffin, has special needs. He's autistic," Fraser told Prinze Jr. "He just turned 20. He's a big kid. He's 6-foot-5. He's got big hands and feet, a big body. I understand intimately what it is to be close to a person who lives with obesity."