Feeling Like an Ancient Artifact
But by the time then-38-year-old Fraser was on the set of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2007, it was his bones that needed a little extra TLC.
“Every morning I was putting myself together like a gladiator with muscle tape and ice packs,” he told The Telegraph in 2023, “strapping on this Transformer-like exoskeleton just to get through the scene.”
The 6-foot-2 actor eventually underwent a laminectomy (which relieves pressure on the spine), lumbar surgery, a partial knee replacement and vocal repair—though not solely due to his stunts in The Mummy franchise. He also did a lot of jumping, running, hurtling and screaming in films such as George of the Jungle and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
“I got a little banged up from years of doing my own stunts,” he said, “and needed a surgical fix on the spine and the hinges.”
All that surgery “took a lot out of me,” he admitted. “I knew I would get better, but it took a long time.”