Brendan Fraser on What The Rise of Streaming Means For Actors: “It Means You Have to Up Your Game”

Brendan Fraser is back on the big screen this fall with his upcoming film Rental Family, and he’s got some interesting thoughts on how streaming has changed the way actors approach their work.

While promoting the movie at TIFF with director and co-writer Hikari, Fraser admitted that streaming has pushed him to be even more selective when choosing projects.

“Audiences are more focused and have the option to skip to the next if they wish. I welcome that as a challenge. It means you have to up your game and choose more carefully, be better.”

That is exactly why he signed on to Rental Family, which premiered at TIFF on September 6 and hits theaters on November 21 via Searchlight Pictures. In the film, Fraser plays Philip, a working actor in Japan who takes on jobs as a professional surrogate to help people coping with loss.

For Fraser, it was an opportunity to tell a story unlike anything he’d seen before. Fraser explained:

“It was so far removed from anything that I had seen at all. It was to be shot in Japan, Tokyo and other parts, the nature of the story, being an unusual way to fulfill the needs that people have who are bereft of family. It seemed like a film without a villain, per se, apart from apathy, and that speaks to us at this time.”

Fraser also shared a lighter moment about his Oscar win for The Whale. He keeps the statue right by the fireplace at home.

“If anybody wants to break in and steal it…” He joked. T”here are several scratches on it because I wear a thumb ring and the night I was given it I was so tense…”

With Rental Family, Fraser is embracing the new reality of streaming while sticking to his love of theatrical experiences.

Source: Variety