MANILA, Philippines - Brendan Fraser stars in Columbia Pictures’ new real-life family drama Extraordinary Measures as John Crowley, a man who defied conventional wisdom and great odds, and risked his family’s future to pursue a cure for his children’s life-threatening disease.
The filmmakers had admired Fraser’s dramatic work in such films as Gods and Monsters and Crash. They knew he had the stature to play John so they sent him the script.
Fraser saw Extraordinary Measures as a unique opportunity: “I’ve made a lot of different kinds of movies, but I think this one stands apart from other work I’ve seen come my way. Sometimes in life the answer is ‘no’ and sometimes it’s the right answer, the answer you have to live with. But John Crowley actually said, ‘No is not acceptable. I’m going to find a way to turn no into a maybe, and then maybe into a yes.’ If he was going to go down, he was going to go down swinging. Those are the ear markings of a true hero.”
A big thumbs up to the casting choice of Fraser came from John, himself. “Brendan is terrific. He’s capable of playing such a range of emotions, going from a serious businessman and entrepreneur, to being a dad, to being a husband. He’s uniquely suited to the role.”
Fraser felt honored to have the opportunity to bring John to the screen. He was also thrilled by the opportunity to work with Harrison Ford. “He’s the actor I was inspired by, like so many legions of actors were. He was the individual who singularly inspired me to say ‘I want to be on screen,’” Fraser beams. “You need someone in the back of your mind to call a role model; someone you would hope to one day emulate in the type of choices you make. For me, it was primarily Harrison. He’s a great guy and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with him. I feel I’m better for it because I’ve learned a lot of things from him along the way.”
Ford found Fraser to have the perfect attributes for the role of John. “Brendan brings understanding and great capacity to the telling of this story. We’re very lucky to have him.”
Over the past two decades, Fraser has appeared in over 30 films, ranging from smart independent films to action-packed blockbusters.
In the summer of 2009, Fraser starred in and executive produced New Line/ Warner Bros.’ release Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D, which grossed over $100-M domestically, and Universal’s Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor which grossed over $400-M worldwide.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Fraser has been in a string of some of the most successful independent films of the past decade including the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, Crash, and the Oscar-nominated films The Quiet American and Gods and Monsters.
Opening soon in theaters, Extraordinary Measures is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
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