Brendan Fraser recalls how he “nearly” died during harrowing hanging scene in ‘The Mummy’

While he appears to be on the path to the Oscars podium for his work in The Whale, Brendan Fraser detoured with a stroll down memory lane during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show Tuesday.

Clarkson asked the actor if it was true he “almost died” on the set of the 1999 blockbuster The Mummy during a scene where his swashbuckling adventurer, Rick O’Connell, was nearly executed by hanging. “Nearly,” Fraser admitted, explaining he was “choked out by accident.”

In the sequence, he’s dropped from the gallows and left to struggle with the noose around his neck while Rachel Weisz‘s Evelyn literally bargains for his life.

Fraser got to his feet and mimed the situation, explaining he was on his toes, with the noose around his neck.

Director Stephen Sommers then said, “‘Hey, it doesn’t really look like you’re choking — can you sell it?'” Fraser recalled. “And I was like, ‘All right, fine.’ So I thought, ‘One more take, man.'”

He adds, “And the camera swooped around and I went up on the toes, and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it up a little higher and I was stuck on my toes — I had nowhere to go but down. And so he was pulling up and I was going down.”

Fraser continued, “The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, there was gravel in my teeth and everyone was really quiet.” The actor said he was slapped backed to consciousness by a cheery British stunt coordinator singing his name. “‘Brendan? Brendan, wake up!'”

He explained the stunt guy noted, “‘Congratulations, you’re in the club — the same thing happened to Mel Gibson on Braveheart!'” Fraser shouted his response: “Thanks, I think?! I wanna go home!”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.