Known for being one of the nicest people in the entertainment industry, Brendan Fraser is living up to his reputation according to his ‘Rental Family’ cast mates. He stars in the new Japanese film as an American who signs up to be a rental family member in Tokyo.
Brendan spoke at the UK Premiere of the film in London, and discussed the problems he faced on set being such a tall man. He was joined at the Royal Festival Hall in London by his co-stars Takehiro Hira , Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman and director Hikari.
The comedy-drama film is due out in UK and Irish cinemas in early 2026. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
00:09They're asking me about you, so I have to say something.
00:12Well, he's a big pain in the neck.
00:30How are you? Close it, brother. How are you?
00:32Thanks so much for your time.
00:33I interviewed you once before a couple of years ago,
00:36and it struck me then, oh, you're very tall, aren't you?
00:38If I stand up straight.
00:39And this is like a good film to display that even more so.
00:42Do you have any tall man hijink stories from being in Japan?
00:45Oh, there's a scene in the movie where we sit down to have okonomiyaki,
00:50which is pancakes, right?
00:52And that restaurant stood on that location, no joke,
00:55for like a couple hundred years.
00:57So the door is the size of a Lilliputian.
01:01And Akira Emoto, the other actor in the movie,
01:04at one point he steps up and he goes and decides to go for a little walk.
01:08And he took off down the street.
01:10And I've got to chase him down and he can move.
01:13And I was trying to get my shoes on.
01:15He ain't stopping unless I catch him.
01:17Oh, you better believe I was crowning myself, bumping into the door.
01:20I was like, it was like a round peg in a square hole.
01:23I don't think you expected this role to be so physically demanding, did you?
01:25No, I didn't.
01:26I thought I just had to stand up straight.
01:28Well, congratulations again.
01:29Thanks, boss.
01:30Thanks so much for your time.
01:31Appreciate you.
01:32You got it.
01:33Fine.
01:34Cheers.
01:35Yes.
01:36I think that, you know, our family, our found members,
01:39our families certainly are the ones that we are born into,
01:42but sometimes in our families we can feel like a giraffe born into a family of zebras.
01:45That's a really good metaphor.
01:46I love that.
01:47And then you are outside of what makes you comfortable.
01:50You're trying.
01:51You're trying.
01:52You're trying.
01:53You're trying.
01:54Yes.
01:55But you want to fulfill that.
01:56I mean, there's a business model in Tokyo where you can actually cope.
02:00I mean, there's an age population in Tokyo and very often someone in their late 90s will
02:08have someone step in to be their daughter who no longer talks to them just so they can
02:13brush their hair for an afternoon and tell them stories.
02:15That's really, really silly when you think about it.
02:17It does.
02:18That thing you've been missing.
02:20This film is a love letter in Tokyo.
02:22It is.
02:23And it's addressed it.
02:24Loneliness anywhere.
02:26And it's signed with a cherry blossom kiss.
02:28I have one more question.
02:29Thanks.
02:34It's a perfect timing to get you because if you look to your right,
02:37Brendan Fraser has stood right there.
02:38I know you spent a lot of time with him at this point, but can you tell me what he means to you
02:42as a figure from your childhood watching them in films?
02:46Oh, my goodness.
02:47Right?
02:49They're asking me about you, so I have to say something.
02:52No, I'm kidding.
02:53Well, he's a big cane in the neck.
02:56No, no, no.
02:57No, no, no.
02:58Hi.
02:59Where are we?
03:00Over there, though.
03:01You do, Maddie.
03:03I think we're just all so lucky to be in his orbit because he's, as you can see,
03:10just the most wonderful, warm, he's like a giant hugging human form.
03:15So, you know, I want to be like him when I grow up.
03:20Yeah.
03:21I want to be like him as an actor.
03:23So giving.
03:24So as a scene partner, you just feel like if you fall, he's going to catch you.
03:29He's going to be there.
03:30And I think as a person, he's like that too.
03:33And his role in the movie is also like that.
03:36He just catches people, right, when they're falling.
03:38And I don't know, like, if we need more people like that in the world.
03:43So I want to be like him.
03:46Also, very well done because it got a little bit weird when it, you know,
03:49to say something nice about someone who's right next to you, but you nailed it.
03:51I know.
03:52Because I just adore him.
03:53I just adore everybody in this film.
03:54I know that you've obviously worked in a lot of American and English language speaking productions,
04:06but this is a chance for Brendan Fraser to be on a Japanese speaking production.
04:09Nice that roles are reversed for a way.
04:11Did you have any like advice for him for like being kind of the foreigner on foreign soil kind of thing?
04:16Do I have advice for Brendan Fraser?
04:18Did you dare give advice?
04:19No.
04:20No.
04:21I mean, he was perfect.
04:22I mean, he was, you know, really professional, of course, from day one.
04:26And then, you know, I don't have to tell you how great he is as an actor.
04:30But, you know, he opened up for us, you know.
04:34I mean, the way we do the filming is different.
04:38But, you know, he was accepting all of us and we accepted him.
04:43And it was a great journey.
04:46What's been most fascinating about this film to learn is that the concept of a rental family
04:51is a real thing in Japan.
04:52It hasn't really taken off elsewhere in the world.
04:55After this film comes out, would you like to see perhaps that businesses pop up across the West too?
05:00I don't know.
05:01I don't know.
05:02But, you know, like, you know, rental family might be, might sound a little bit wacky.
05:08But, like, you know, we all feel like, you know, when you see like old men, like my father's age, you know, like some gesture or some mannerism like that, like remind me of my late father or something.
05:24And then, like, you know, those little things, like we all do that, like naturally.
05:30So, I guess you can make that into a business.
05:36It's your choice.
05:37But, you know, it's a natural thing, I think.
05:41How are you finding this?
05:43How is this kind of dirty feel to you?
05:45It's big, huge, and it's cold.
05:49It is a little cold.
05:50That's rushed away.
05:51Hey, tell me about how you got cast in Rental Family.
05:55Like, start from the beginning and how you arrived on set.
05:58It must have been a fun story, right?
05:59I did an audition.
06:00They're looking for, I think, nine years old mixed girl.
06:04And my mom asked me if I wanted to do it.
06:07I said, I want to do it.
06:08So, I got into the audition and then I went through.
06:11It was amazing.
06:12And congratulations again.
06:14I don't know if you know, but Brendan Fraser is known in internet circles as being the nicest man alive.
06:21That's true.
06:22And that's true.
06:23Oh, thank God.
06:24Because obviously you have first-hand experience with him now.
06:26How did you find just hanging out with him for a couple of months?
06:28It was just, I mean, it was crazy.
06:32I mean, he's so kind and funny.
06:35And it just, he felt like my dad.
06:37And just, it was so comfortable to be with him.
06:40And all the rest of the cast there.
06:42So, I met Akira-san for the first time.
06:45But he's really kind and it was really nice to be with him.
06:49That's so nice to hear.
06:50And one of the things which has caught my attention is that if you look on the poster over there, you guys in there.
06:54Oh, that's me!
06:55What is happening on that day with you and Brendan in your cat's gear?
06:58Talk about that day on set.
07:00I'm on his back but, well, so it's a parade.
07:05Can I say this?
07:06It's a parade.
07:07And there's this kind of cat, cats all over the place.
07:10And then, I guess I was too short for the camera so I had to get out to his back.
07:16And then we're just walking through the parade and it was so fun.
07:20And we got this face paint like a cat.
07:24So cool.
07:25I've loved seeing interviews with yourself and Brendan because you're so warm and so loving to each other still.
07:31I saw you call him your new family, your permanent family.
07:34Yes.
07:35What is it about Brendan that feels so familial?
07:38I think he's, I mean, one not to love, but first of all.
07:43He's just like really open and he's just willing to, you know, just willing to, like, he doesn't come from the close place.
07:50He comes from open arms.
07:52And that personality about him that I just like always loved.
07:56And you watch his movie and you feel who he is.
07:59And when I saw him on the, you know, a Q&A on the big screen during the BAFTA screening, I was like,
08:05wow, this guy is so incredible human being.
08:08And I felt he's got to be my, my guy.
08:11When you were, when you were co-writing the script, who did you, everyone says,
08:15Oh, I always had Brendan in mind.
08:17But did you have Brendan in mind when you were writing the script?
08:19I actually, the script was originally for somebody younger.
08:21Yeah.
08:22It was like a much younger character.
08:23And we had so many different versions of the movie, versions of the script.
08:28One time he was working at the Butler cafe.
08:31I'm like, you know, he wasn't the actor at first.
08:33And so we were looking and examining like what's the story that could resonate the most.
08:38But when I saw Brendan again on the screen, I was like, there he is.
08:42And so we worked on the script and rewrote it and adjust it.
08:46And then it is, it is what it is now.
08:49I spoke to the young actress, Shannon, who is adorable.
08:54And she seemed to have a fantastic time on this as well.
08:57She had many nice things to say about Brendan.
08:59Did you as a director kind of like set them away and help build their relationship to form their bonds?
09:04Or did they do that themselves?
09:06I think a little bit of both, but I think Brendan was such a, again, he was so welcoming and so loving.
09:12And then Shannon really made Shannon so comfortable.
09:15There's one point that he, day one, he was teaching her where to hit the mark.
09:20And I told Shannon, because, you know, she never acted before.
09:24This is her first time.
09:25And I told Shannon, that's an Oscar winning actor.
09:28He was telling you how to hit the mark.
09:30Just remember this moment.
09:31And she did great.
09:33Would a mark of success for this film to be perhaps one day the concept of a rental family, which I know is real in Japan and is an existing business.
09:42Yes.
09:43If that pops up around the world, would that be a mark of success for this film?
09:46I think so.
09:47I think so.
09:48And there's actually a couple of people reached out to me that they started this company and they wanted to have me talk about it.
09:55And, you know, I checked the Instagram and they're like, you know, start it up, start up new rental family company.
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