A goofy actor gets the giggles, goes boom
(Summit Entertainment)
Brendan Fraser was falling-down-sober (I think) when he joined Brooke Shields recently at a posh North Dallas hotel to beat the publicity bushes for "Furry Vengeance."
According to Fraser, a sometimes semi-goofy leading man ("Dudley Do-Right," "The Mummy" franchise) but serious last time out opposite Harrison Ford in "Extraordinary Measures," he was (way) under the influence of a trendy energy drink.
Brendan Fraser and Brooke Shields in "Furry Vengeance." (Summit Entertainment)
Shields, desperately attempting to derail Fraser's unrelenting giggly rant, tried to take the Red Bull by the horns without success.
In addition to playing a real estate developer infringing on the natural habitat of various animals on the edge of an Oregon forest, Fraser also serves as executive producer of the silly man-vs.-animal family comedy.
The script didn't come across Fraser's desk. That's so Hollywood old school.
"It came across my Kindle (electronic book reader)," he says.
He was attracted to the project because of what he calls the fun factor.
"I miss fun. Fun never writes, never calls," he giggles, about the time he falls backward onto the floor in his chair.
"This is kind of what I do. Whoa!"
"This is a funny movie," he continues. "Bring Grandma. Come one, come all. We're going to have a good time."
His character, Fraser contends, has a "dufus vitamin" in him. On this particular day, the 41-year-old Indianapolis native appears to be packing his character's vitamin stash.
Fraser portrays Dan Sanders, a decent enough guy who has transplanted his family (Shields as wife Tammy) to the Oregon forest to oversee a supposedly "eco-friendly" housing development.
It's not and Dan becomes the target of forest animals who have apparently had enough human encroachment.
Fraser's rambling and the giggles grow louder, so Shields steps in to explain the obstacles involved with the production.
"I think part of what happens when you read a script like this, from what we've talked about, is how do you end up doing this," she says.
"I think it's how do you do a movie when they're not going to make the animals talk, where you're going to get a good message where you have characters that actually have a flushed-out place to go, where you're not just going to have the perfunctory wife, or girlfriend or next door neighbor or whatever and you're not going to do any condescending in your humor and you're going to appeal to kids and adults," Shields adds.
Surprisingly, none of the human actors had any contact with the animals.
"I did not touch a living creature, nor did she," Fraser offers.
"We shot with something called Red Camera, which is basically a digital camera. It can emulate all different stocks and footage. It won't run out. Primarily, it's used because there's a lot of compositing going in. In other words, the creation of these creatures are going to be put in interacting with human beings. It made it easier for them from a technical standpoint."
"There was a movie (with animals) being shot simultaneously," Shields says. "They had an entire crew and animals being sent there months prior to our getting there (to the Massachusetts location).
"Some of them were born during the period of time there was training. They got married, had little baby raccoons. They also didn't want too much interaction with us to compromise their training. They didn't want any bonding to happen that was independent of what they needed," she adds.
"Furry Vengeance," opening Friday, turns out to be right up Fraser's goof-ball alley. He's sprayed by vengeful skunks more than once and has an on-going battle with a crafty raccoon.
So how did he and others share scenes with animals that didn't actually interact with the actors?
"We worked with stuffies, stuffed animals," he says. When his character gets slapped around by a furry creature, for instance, the raw footage involves Fraser taking it on the chin by little paws attached to chopsticks.
It's that kind of silly comedy, and that kind of silly, long interview day.
