A near-death experience and a kidnapping threat: 10 things you didn't know about The Mummy.

It was the late '90s and Brendan Fraser was everywhere. 

After catapulting to fame in George of the Jungle, the up-and-coming actor landed the lead role in the adventure fantasy film The Mummy. 

It was a film that would bring in $416 million and lead to a multi-million dollar franchise. But things didn't always go to plan behind the scenes...

Watch the trailer for The Mummy. Post continues below. 

Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Fraser recalled the "scary" situation he found himself in on set when he was accidentally "chocked out" and collapsed during filming. 

The now 53-year-old was filming a scene where a rope was tied around his neck when director Stephen Sommers told him, "It doesn't really look like you're choking. Can you sell it?"

In the next take, the man controlling the rope pulled it higher, leaving Fraser with "nowhere to go but down".

"The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, and there was gravel in my teeth, and everyone was really quiet," he recalled. 

When he eventually returned to consciousness, Fraser heard a stunt co-ordinator calling out his name.

"Congratulations, you're in the club! The same thing happened to Mel Gibson on Braveheart," he said.

It's not the first time award-winning actor has spoken about the near-death experience. In 2019, he told Entertainment Weekly, "I did get fully choked-out. It was scary". 

However, Sommer told the publication Fraser was "totally to blame" for the incident. 

"He tightens the noose, and then, as we're about to get the shot, he's trying to make it look like it's really strangling him. I guess it cut off his carotid artery, or whatever, and knocked him out," he said. 

Fraser responded saying, "Stephen needed to sell that Rick was actually choking, so, technically yes, it was my fault, that I was following direction from my director to sell it."

Here are 10 things you didn't know about The Mummy: 

1. Arnold Vosloo had to shave every day on set.

Arnold Vosloo had to go to some pretty painful lengths to play Imhotep, who appeared hairless in the film.

"For the first movie, I bravely consented for this lovely Scottish girl, who is my make-up artist, to wax me," he told the Independent. "That happened one time. I yelled like a stuffed pig."

For the sequel, Vosloo ditched the wax and opted for shaving instead. 

"I'd stand there at 5.30 in the morning and they'd just shave my whole body including my head, chest, arms, legs, whatever."

Image: Universal Pictures.

2. The movie was filmed inside a real volcano. 

It turns out the fictional city of Hamunaptra was actually constructed inside a dormant volcano near the town of Erfoud, which production designer Allan Cameron found while scouting for locations. 

"When Allan discovered the volcano, I knew we had to use it," director Stephen Sommers told Film Scouts. 

"A city hidden in the crater of an extinct volcano made perfect sense. Out in the middle of the desert you would never see it. You would never think of entering the crater unless you knew what was inside that volcano."

3. Tom Cruise turned down the lead role.

Cruise turned down the role in 1999. The Mummy was also offered to other notable leading men of the era, including Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Fraser at the time said he jumped at the chance for this role, as his star was still rising in the late '90s. 

In the end, Cruise would star in the 2017 reboot instead.

4. Dwayne Johnson made his acting debut in the film's sequel. 

In 2001, The Mummy Returns aired. Although it wasn't as successful as the first film, we do have the sequel to thank for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson becoming a movie star. 

Johnson starred as the villain Mathayus - aka the Scorpion King. Most of the acting from him was computer generated. So despite Johnson and Fraser starring in the sequel together, they didn't actually meet in real life until the movie's premiere. 

"We hadn't met in person before then, actually, although we were fighting on-screen. But every time I worked with him, he was just a piece of tape on a stick. So it was nice to go, 'Hey, man. How are ya? We finally meet!'" Fraser recalled to Variety.

As for Johnson, he said he has fond memories working on the movie. 

"I came from the world of wrestling, which was an obstacle. I made The Mummy Returns, which Brendan said 'come into my franchise'. He welcomed me in when he didn't have to and he did and I never forgot it," Johnson said to Access Hollywood.

Image: Universal Pictures.

5. A background extra wore a cloak used in Star Wars.

We love a cross-pollination movie moment!

It turns out that one of the background extras in The Mummy was wearing a cloak originally worn by Sir Alec Guinness during the filming of Star Wars.

The costume department at the time did not realise the cloak's history, and it was only after The Mummy went to cinemas, that this little tidbit was realised.

6. The locusts were actually real. 

Given the sheer amount of CGI used in The Mummy films, from Dwayne Johnson to the pretend gunfire shooting scenes, it's interesting to know that the locusts were in fact real.

While Arnold Vosloo didn't really unleash a torrent of insects from his mouth - fortunately they were CGI - the scene where Dr Chamberlain struggles amid the locusts wasn't CGI. And the actor behind it said he struggled to keep it together during the scene. And fair enough!

7. Anck-Su-Namun's body paint took FOUR hours each day. 

With the exception of a loincloth, a few pieces of statement jewellery, and some nipple pasties, actor Patricia Velasquez was nude. The costume itself was predominantly body paint, which took about four hours to apply. 

"They had to retouch it as well, and that would take two hours to do touch-ups," Velasquez said recently in a YouTube video interview. 

"I got a little sick from the paint. When they called to do Mummy 2, I said 'guys this isn't practical to do make-up for the second one.' So that's why they did the body suit for the second movie."

Reflecting on the franchise, she said: "All the experiences in The Mummy changed my life. So many wonderful memories - from a professional level to meeting people. It's very special."

Patricia Velasquez as Anck-Su-Namun in The Mummy. Image: Universal Pictures.

8. Brendan Fraser wasn't the only one on set who was seriously injured.

While recounting this near-death experience, Fraser also hinted that other actors and crew members had endured their own hellish encounters as well.

Everyone on set was required to drink a specially created beverage every two hours in order to stay hydrated. Medical crew concocted the beverage which although unpleasant and bitter to taste, was able to hydrate twice as fast as water. 

But it didn't stop there, with multiple crew members hospitalised after being bitten or stung by poisonous animals.

9. The actors all had kidnapping insurance. 

At the time of making the film, tensions were reportedly high in some of the locations - specifically Egypt and Morocco.

With an unstable political climate, the production made the call to take out kidnapping insurance on all the main cast. Director Stephen Sommers said he felt like it was the smart and safest decision to make, despite the film having the full support of the Moroccan military. 

Quite ironically though, it wasn't until filming wrapped that the cast were informed about the kidnapping threat. 

10. Brendan Fraser also had a scary encounter with a deadly snake while filming.

The horror stories don't stop!

Given many of the films desert scenes were shot on location in Morocco, Fraser said the crew and cast had to deal with the local wildlife. And one such animal that everyone was terrified of were the snakes. 

"They sent a memo out describing a type of snake… [with] yellow dots on it. They said, 'If you see this kind of snake, do not go near it. Because if it bites you, at best, they'll amputate your limb'," he said to Entertainment Weekly. 

"Anyway, there I was, p***ing down a rock, and I look down and there's the yellow-dot snake. I was like, 'F***!' I just ran for it."

But despite all the on-set drama, it sure made for a fabulous film. Anyone else keen for a nostalgia watch now?

Feature Image: Universal Pictures.

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