Yahoo Movies Brendan Fraser praises Encino Man costar Ke Huy Quan for 'performance of his lifetime' in Everything Everywhere All at Once
From Adam Sandler to the Rock, Hollywood has come out in support of Brendan Fraser's Oscar-buzzworthy performance in The Whale. Now, the Mummy franchise star is paying the goodwill forward to his Encino Man costar and fellow awards season contender Ke Huy Quan.
"I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I was like, 'This is the most awesome movie that's ever been made.' I love this picture. I love Michelle [Yeoh] in this; she's an old friend, and [when I saw it] I went, hang on, I know him," Fraser tells EW of seeing Quan in the film.
Written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as Daniels), Everything Everywhere All at Once stars Yeoh, who also previously worked with Fraser in 2008's Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Quan in a time-hopping tale of familial resilience.
Encino Man Productions
"His name wasn't Ke in the days that I knew him, for reasons we just don't abide by any longer," Fraser continues. "Some agent told him that no one would understand [the name] or whatever. We don't get to do that anymore. He is who he is. The journey that he's taken to come to this place has given him, I think, the role of his lifetime, and he's given the performance of his lifetime, and in many ways, I, like him, feel the same way. We gave it everything we had. We're both like, 'We're still here, man! We're still here.'"
Fraser and Quan costarred in Les Mayfield's 1992 comedy about a pair of high schoolers (played by Sean Astin and Pauly Shore) who, after discovering a frozen caveman (Fraser), thaw him and introduce him to modern life in Los Angeles.
everett collection; Allyson Riggs/A24 Brendan Fraser praises his 'Encino Man' costar Ke Huy Quan for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.'
Though Fraser's current turn in director Darren Aronofsky's critically lauded drama about a 600-pound gay professor struggling to reconnect with his daughter has been hailed as a "comeback" for its star, he has regularly appeared in film and TV projects in recent years, including the DC action series Doom Patrol and on Showtime's romantic drama The Affair.
Quan, however, took a 36-year break from acting after rising to prominence in films like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, with his celebrated role in Everything Everywhere All at Once earning him significant praise on the Oscars trail — including a recent NYFCC victory for Best Supporting Actor.
The Whale opens tomorrow in limited theatrical release via A24. Watch EW's full interview with Fraser above.
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