Brendan Fraser Says ‘Bedazzled’ Was Inspired by Buddhism
Brendan Fraser’s return to the acting industry has been very well received. The star has been booked and busy with several interesting projects in the pipeline. Fraser became famous in the late ’90s and early 2000s with roles in The Mummy, George of the Jungle, and Bedazzled. As for the latter, the actor recently said the film was, in part, influenced by Buddhism.
Brendan Fraser starred in ‘Bedazzled’
Bedazzled follows a lonely office nerd named Elliot (Fraser) who sells his soul to the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) for seven wishes. But it’s not everything it’s cracked up to be.
She grants Elliot his wishes. But every time he makes a wish, the Devil adds another layer to it, giving him more than he asked for. Elliot finds himself in all kinds of circumstances, from a professional basketball player to a Colombian drug lord. He learns something each time, but never gets what he really wants — a happy life with his crush, Alison.
After finding himself literally in hell, Elliot uses his last wish to get the Devil to make Alison happy, even if it’s not with him. This selfless act results in his contract with the Devil becoming void, and Elliot resumes his normal life. He finds love, and learns a valuable lesson.
Brendan Fraser said Buddhism inspired much of ‘Bedazzled’
Fraser’s character Elliot gets reincarnated several times in Bedazzled. The movie was directed by the late director Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters), who took much of his life’s philosophies from Buddhism. Ramis was a humanist for most of his life.
However, when he met and married his second wife, Erica Mann, he shared her Buddhist upbringing and beliefs while still maintaining his own. This resulted in Ramis becoming friends with the Dalai Lama. In a 2022 interview with GQ, Fraser revealed that Ramis used Buddhism as an inspiration for Bedazzled.
“In the last few breaths before credits roll, you’ll see that our hero and heroine are walking out on a bridge on a pier. And a man in an orange robe, a monk appears. That was Harold’s nod to his belief of us being on a spiritual journey,” Fraser said. The actor shared that Ramis believed that life was a journey, and he used Fraser’s character’s transformation to showcase the concept.
‘Bedazzled’ got the Monty Python seal of approval
Bedazzled premiered in October 2000. It performed moderately well at the box office. The film has an approval rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 115 critical reviews. But more than that, Fraser revealed that Bedazzled also earned the seal of approval from Monty Python‘s John Cleese. In the GQ interview, Fraser recalled Cleese arriving to set and inquiring about their work.
The actor said they were filming one of Elliot’s reincarnations as a Columbian drug lord. In the scene, Elliot doesn’t realize he can speak Spanish until he opened his mouth. Apparently, the veteran comedian found this funny.
“It was like [a] relief, because if we can make John Cleese laugh, like ‘I’ve not heard that joke before!,’ we had the Monty Python seal of approval,” Fraser said.
