A Lifetime Job
The Mummy franchise, Brendan Fraser’s biggest-budget project to date, was about to begin production. In competition with other A-list actors, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Ben Affleck, for the starring role of Rick O’Connell, he was offered the part. Fraser’s performance in George of the Jungle convinced director Stephen Sommers that he was the ideal choice for the position. Although Fraser hadn’t done much of it previously, Sommers felt confident Fraser was the right choice for the role of an adventure movie with mystical and paranormal undertones.