Brendan Fraser Brought 1 Quality to ‘Professionals’ Role That Surprised Tom Welling
Brendan Fraser is back in Professionals. While we wait for his new movie The Whale to come out in theaters, you can see Fraser on The CW. Fraser plays Peter Swan, a billionaire who hires Vincent Corbo (Tom Welling) for his security team. Welling is also an executive producer, as is Fraser, and Welling said Fraser’s take on Swan surprised him.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet spoke with Welling in 2020 when he was selling Professionals. Now it’s finally airing on The CW. Here’s what Welling said Fraser added to the role. Professionals airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
Tom Welling ‘couldn’t have been more happy’ when Brendan Fraser joined ‘Professionals’
Welling previously told Cheat Sheet how he met with Professionals creators Michael Colleary and Jeff Most. He also shared how he knew Fraser would be right for the role.
“When Brendan got attached, I couldn’t have been more happy,” Welling said. “That was the easiest thing in the world. Him and I met in Ireland in person for the first time in the hotel lobby, just literally bumping into each other. We just instantly got along. I’ve always looked up to him through his whole career and mine. It was just a really fun easy relationship that we had which then I think carried over to my character and his character’s back and forth because at first it’s kind of weird.”
‘Professionals’ star Brendan Fraser added a key element to Peter Swan
Swan first hires Corbo to find out who sabotaged his rocket launch. There are more missions every week and ultimately Corbo and Swan become partners.
“Brendan brings this thing to Peter Swan that I didn’t expect, which is likeability,” Welling said. “The scripts were great but there’s a likeability factor that Brendan brought that I didn’t anticipate and it made Vincent be like, ‘Man, I really don’t want to like this guy’ but he ends up forming a friendship. That element had escaped me in the prep, but as we were filming it, it just added so much more.”
Likeability is at the core of Fraser’s comeback. He’s been endearing in every role he played, from The Mummy and George of the Jungle to School Ties and Gods and Monsters. Now we get that Fraser goodness every week on TV.
An action comedy vehicle for both actors
Fraser may have retired his action hero legacy, but he still gets to be the boss of Corbo’s team.
“I kind of think it’s like an A-Team meets Ocean’s 11 but more exotic,” Welling said. “We were down in South Africa. There’s scenes with wild elephants going through scenes. There’s even one with Ken Duken where he’s walking down this long road. He’s lost in the Saharan wilderness and it just so happens these wild animals start walking through the shot. Ken just went with it. It can be pretty exciting when an elephant and giraffe just start walking through your set.”
Welling promised ‘Professionals’ would deliver on the comic relief as much as the kick-ass action.
“They did a great thing with Michael and Jeff,” Welling said. “There was definitely room for the comedy in the series, but they really let us play with it. I think what we get is much more of a human aspect to these characters because we were having a lot of fun on set and in between, especially with my crew that I have working for me, Vincent’s crew. The banter that happened in between takes kind of would roll into the characters and I think we have a nice flow and rhythm and energy to everybody being together.”
