While audiences continue to praise his return, Dwayne Johnson is celebrating Brendan Fraser after his emotional The Whale viral video. Though a well-known film star now, Fraser was there at the start of Johnson's acting career, working alongside him in 2001's The Mummy Returns, with Johnson appearing as the villainous Scorpion King. Johnson would go on to lead the eponymous 2002 spinoff, his first leading movie role, which saw the character given a more protagonist storyline in comparison.
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While Johnson is now an A-list actor, Fraser's career memorably saw a decline in the early 2010s, leading to a brief hiatus before beginning his return with a recurring role in Showtime's The Affair. Fraser has since enjoyed a steady rise back to stardom thanks to roles in HBO Max's Doom Patrol, FX's Trust and Steven Soderbergh's No Sudden Move. Fraser has a number of major projects on his docket, and with one currently garnering early acclaim, a former costar of his is getting in on celebrating his return.
On the heels of the film's Venice Film Festival premiere, a video went viral of Brendan Fraser's emotional response to his standing ovation for The Whale. Dwayne Johnson subsequently took to Twitter to celebrate his former Mummy costar, recalling how he helped launch his career and expressing his excitement for his comeback. Check out Johnson's heartwarming post below:
Johnson's celebration of Fraser's comeback and the emotional The Whale viral video is sure to be a moving sentiment for fans of both actors, as well as The Mummy franchise, which helped launched Johnson's career. Interestingly, Johnson even just missed appearing alongside Fraser in a number of other franchises, taking over as the lead for the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel, The Mysterious Island, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The first film in the latter franchise featured a cameo appearance from Fraser as the actor reunited with his Mummy director Stephen Sommers for the Hasbro movie adaptation.
With Brendan Fraser's career back on the rise, it will be interesting to see if he will get the opportunity to reunite with his former Mummy costar Dwayne Johnson sometime in the future, namely with Johnson's emotional reaction to the viral video of Fraser. The two nearly got the opportunity to cross paths within the DC Extended Universe with Johnson leading Black Adam and Fraser set as the villainous Firefly for Batgirl, though with the latter movie shelved after production, that future seems uncertain for the two. In the meantime, audiences can look forward to celebrating Fraser's continued comeback with The Whale hitting theaters on December 9.