{"id":449052,"date":"2025-12-15T17:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/449052\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:02:15","slug":"after-the-whale-brendan-fraser-was-at-a-crossroads-then-he-found-rental-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/449052\/","title":{"rendered":"After ‘The Whale,’ Brendan Fraser was at a crossroads. Then he found ‘Rental Family’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cRental Family<\/a>\u201d is this season\u2019s warmhearted contender that could. The charming drama has captivated audiences and critics alike since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and was recently named one of the National Board of Review\u2019s top films of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t met or heard anyone who has been disappointed,\u201d says Brendan Fraser of the film, in which he plays an American actor living in Japan who stumbles into a gig working at a rental family agency, helping clients with their real-life issues and providing companionship. \u201cEveryone seems to come away with something that has affected them in a way they were not anticipating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director and co-writer Hikari, who was born in Osaka, says she\u2019s received similarly positive feedback. She first learned about rental family businesses around 2018, when her co-writer Stephen Blahut discovered them. \u201cPeople think the story is going to go one way and it takes them through a completely different journey emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fraser, the project came at a perfect time, when he was mid-promotion for \u201cThe Whale\u201d and technically unemployed. Hikari says she knew when she saw his Oscar-winning performance that he was her star. \u201cI thought, \u2018Wow, this man has such depth and he\u2019s not afraid to be vulnerable,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt was so clear to me. I kept thinking about my scenes in \u2018Rental Family\u2019 as I was watching \u2018The Whale,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018There he is. Brendan works.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser and Hikari joined The Envelope the morning after their L.A. premiere at the Directors Guild to discuss that first fruitful meeting, Fraser\u2019s vulnerable, open-minded take on the film\u2019s protagonist, Phillip, and learning and speaking Japanese for the role.<\/p>\n

\"Brendan <\/p>\n

Brendan Fraser, left, on the set of \u201cRental Family\u201d with director Hikari.<\/p>\n

(James Lisle \/ Searchlight Pictures)<\/p>\n

What was your first meeting like?<\/b><\/p>\n

Brendan Fraser:<\/b> Lengthy [laughs].<\/p>\n

Hikari:<\/b> I was so nervous! I went to New York because he read the script and said he\u2019s interested. I was like, \u201cYes!\u201d I wanted him to get to know me rather than just start talking about the movie. If he didn\u2019t like me as a person, there\u2019s no making the movie.<\/p>\n

Fraser:<\/b> I was looking for a job, to be honest. Seeking employment. This was before any of the award ceremonies that year. I was kind of hovering between the promotion [of \u201cThe Whale\u201d], and I was even looking for representation. I was kind of a free agent at that moment. I didn\u2019t have anything predetermined, but what I knew I wanted to do was something that was far removed from what I had done. You had me at the title: What is a rental family? And then to read on, I was delighted by the complex relationships and the depth of them and how it was written to not be sentimental. I thought it could fall into mawkishness, and I was a little concerned each time I turned the page. I was like, \u201cOh, he didn\u2019t get together with Aiko. OK, phew.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s not hooking up with a single mom, OK.\u201d It felt authentic for that reason.<\/p>\n

Can you talk about how you crafted the performance? What do you like about the type of acting you got to do?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Brendan <\/p>\n

Brendan Fraser.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Fraser:<\/b> I\u2019m going to reveal something to you, Hikari. I didn\u2019t necessarily come up with a character per se. I just knew that I would go to Tokyo and do my darn best to play the scenes, and whatever it was that this guy did is what you get. So I was always hopeful that it was right or working in accord with what her vision of this was. I know there were guises of other characters that actors in a rental family could adopt, but I think what I did hope to do is just stay as close to what seemed authentic, and it didn\u2019t have a patina to it.<\/p>\n

Hikari:<\/b> And I think that worked out perfectly. I tell everybody the way he was, was perfect. What I love about him was because of who he is, Brendan. And so it probably was best because he just came in so open.<\/p>\n

How did you approach learning and speaking Japanese in the film? <\/b><\/p>\n

Hikari:<\/b> That was a really great thing. I was about to ask him if he would [learn]. He was like, \u201cHey, can I?\u201d at almost exactly the same time. \u201cYes, I would love you to take Japanese lessons. Let me set you up with this teacher in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did or do you enjoy about the language?<\/b><\/p>\n

Fraser:<\/b> Its directness. Its ability to say more with less. Subject first and then fewer modifiers afterwards. It seems to be derived from larger meanings of concepts, ideas, art, poems. I like the cadence of it. I found it easier to pronounce than I anticipated, but having the right intonation was where I relied on Hikari to correct me. And luckily I have a skill for mimicry, so I can do that.<\/p>\n

Hikari:<\/b> He really nailed it with the language and the performance, in the way that [Phillip] really wants to belong in the country. He doesn\u2019t want to be the big American, the way he sits or walks onto trains. He\u2019s squeezing in, just really wants to belong.<\/p>\n

\"Hikari.\" <\/p>\n

Hikari.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

How do you feel about the succession of these last few roles and what you\u2019ve gotten to do?<\/b><\/p>\n

Fraser:<\/b> It makes me feel satisfied, personally, to know that I picked something that was almost a gotcha surprise. It didn\u2019t stand out as an obvious choice. I didn\u2019t have any kind of need or desire to exchange the energy or the attention that gets placed on an actor, as I\u2019ve learned, after that award [the Oscar]. It\u2019s like, \u201cOK, you got this, but what will you do next?\u201d And that\u2019s underlined three times. My hope was to surprise people and to take that risk. I like the idea of people having a preconceived notion about what [\u201cRental Family\u201d] is and should be, and knowing fully well, \u201cYou\u2019re going to be surprised. It\u2019s actually more interesting than what you thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you relaxed into this part of promoting the film? Can you just enjoy the ride?<\/b><\/p>\n

Fraser:<\/b> For me, it\u2019s an absolute pleasure because I know that those walking in the door with an open slate, something\u2019s going to be imprinted on them that they weren\u2019t anticipating, something good. I know that it\u2019s giving people some sort of connection to the material that\u2019s reminding them of something in their own life. And this was coming from even strangers. Those were hardened industry types there last night. I can\u2019t say I know everybody, but I kind of understand the crowd, and it takes a lot to impress people at the DGA. So it seems like it\u2019s disarming; it knocks the armor off of people\u2019s desire to protect themselves.<\/p>\n

Hikari:<\/b> Don\u2019t be afraid to feel, that\u2019s what I always say, if you feel like tearing up. Don\u2019t go in with expectations, just sit down and enjoy two hours of this journey with Phillip, two hours of Tokyo. Less than two hours, actually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cRental Family\u201d is this season\u2019s warmhearted contender that could. The charming drama has captivated audiences and critics alike…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":449053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[206487,122301,113603,185,206484,171,206485,19918,35849,206488,3546,144378,206489,113604,206486,67,132,68,14164,31918],"class_list":{"0":"post-449052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-american-actor","9":"tag-award-ceremony","10":"tag-brendan-fraser","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-co-writer-hikari","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-fraser","15":"tag-idea","16":"tag-japanese","17":"tag-oscar-winning-performance","18":"tag-people","19":"tag-perfect-time","20":"tag-phillip","21":"tag-rental-family","22":"tag-top-film","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-way","27":"tag-whale"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115724665973031682","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}