Was Adam Sandler the reason Brendan Fraser landed his ‘Airheads’ role?

Brendan Fraser‘s career has been quite the rollercoaster. Fraser was everywhere throughout the late 1990s and the 2000s, establishing himself as one of the most likeable movie stars on the market. Then, around 2010, the man all but disappeared due to a series of tragic personal circumstances that caused his career to decline.

And then, from the latter half of the 2010s onward, Fraser embarked on one of the most satisfying comebacks in recent memory. He showed his skill as a dramatic actor in various small parts before delivering his Oscar-winning performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, completing a wonderful victory lap for a truly beloved actor.

One of his most iconic 1990s roles was in the comedy film Airheads, in which he starred alongside Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi. The trio plays a struggling rock band that tries to hijack a local radio station to get airplay for their demo track.

The movie might not have been a box office success or a critical hit at the time, but it has endured a cult classic status, and it was an essential step for Fraser as he moved up the Hollywood ladder. Prior to Airheads, he was best known for the commercially successful but critically panned Pauly Shore comedy vehicle Encino Man, in which he played a caveman who ends up in present-day Los Angeles after being frozen in ice for thousands of years.

When Fraser and Sandler sat down together for Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’ series, Sandler claimed that he’d been instrumental in getting Fraser cast. Sandler joked that he’d snatched Fraser away from Pauly Shore, who was hoping to keep Fraser around should a sequel to Encino Man be made. “I was like, this guy shouldn’t just be a caveman!” Sander remarked before explaining that director Michael Lehmann was very against Fraser being cast.

Sandler, however, really wanted Fraser and even claims to have told Lehmann that he’d walk away from the film if Fraser wasn’t involved. Fraser was surprised to hear this, as he’d been under the impression that Lehmann had wanted him in Airheads from the start, but Sandler maintained that it was largely thanks to him that the Encino Man star was cast.

Regardless of which version is true, Airheads has a special place for both actors, as they’ve remembered it as one of the most enjoyable shooting experiences of their careers. Fraser, in fact, still has an important memo from the set: the demo that the film’s story revolves around.