Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser have known each other for a long time.
In a video that came out last year, the two actors talked to each other for Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series. Early on in their conversation, Adam Sandler told Brendan Fraser a story about their 1994 movie “Airheads,” in which they both play members of a metal band who hold a radio station hostage in order to play their demo tape. This story completely shocked Fraser.
At the time, Brendan Fraser was best known for playing a caveman named Link in the silly 1992 movie “Encino Man.” Adam Sandler was mostly known for being on “Saturday Night Live,” but he used what little influence he had to get Fraser the lead role in “Airheads.”
[The director] Michael Lehmann was very against you,
Sandler told a shocked Brendan Fraser.
He was like, ‘I don’t get it. I don’t see the caveman being in this movie.’ And I just said, ‘He can do other shit, man.’
I eventually went to his house, like 4 in the morning, woke him up … I said … ‘Just know Adam Sandler ain’t going to be in ‘Airheads’ unless old Fraser is in it.’ So he changed his little tune,
Adam Sandler said.
He flew out to Chicago to meet me!
Still shocked, Brendan Fraser said that Lehmann “sang a different tune” when they first talked about the role.
Sandler also said that the director wasn’t the only thing that stopped Brendan Fraser from getting the part.
The star of “Hustle” said that Pauly Shore, who worked with Brendan Fraser in “Encino Man,” asked Sandler not to push for Fraser for a pretty selfish reason.
He kept saying, ‘Just in case we do ‘Encino 2,’ I don’t want him doing other shit,’
Sandler recalled.
And I said, ‘Don’t do that to him.’
That’s Pauly,
Fraser admitted.
Luckily, there was never an “Encino Man 2.” But Fraser did play Link the caveman in Shore’s 1994 movie “In the Army Now,” and he used a line from “Encino Man.”
During their conversation, Sandler and Fraser also talked about how Shore tried to get a part in “Airheads” but didn’t get it. Check out the video above to find out what it was.
