Brendan Fraser says he almost died on Mummy set after ‘joining Mel Gibson club’

Brendan Fraser has recalled almost dying while starring in The Mummy.

The actor is continuing his awards campaign with just over a week to go until the Oscars, where he is nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Whale.

On Tuesday (28 February), Fraser was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where he discussed shooting a sequence for the 1999 adventure film in which his character, Rick O’Connell, has a rope around his neck.

Fraser said the moment happened after director Stephen Sommers said: “Hey, it doesn’t really look like you’re choking – can you sell it?”

“You only got so far to go,” Fraser said, adding that he was standing on his toes.

However, during the next take, when “the camera swooped around”, Fraser says he “went up on the toes and the guy holding the rope above me pulled” the rope up “a little higher”.

He continued: “I was stuck on my toes and I had nowhere to go but down. So he was pulling up and I was going down. And then the next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways and there was gravel in my teeth.”

Fraser said he needed to be resusicated and, when he gained consciousness, he was told by stunt co-ordinator working on the film: “Congratulations, you’re in the club – same thing happened to Mel Gibson on Braveheart.”

Fraser replied: “Thanks, I think? I wanna go home!”

The actor recently said that he “doesn’t necessarily want to look” how he did in the Mummy films.

He said in an interview: “I mean, I’m older now; I don’t look the way I did in those days, and I don’t necessarily want to. I’ve made peace with who I am now. And I’m glad that the work I can do is based in an emotional reality that’s not my own life, but is one that I can strongly identify with.”

The Oscars will take place on 12 March – find the full list of this year’s nominations here.