Brendan Fraser has been having a great moment of career resurgence and awards attention known as “The Brenaissance.” It isn’t a phenomenon limited to the world of the movies, as the 2022 TV schedule sees Fraser also highlighted through both the latest season of Doom Patrol, and another series called Professionals. It was the latter that allowed Smallville veteran Tom Welling to connect with the actor and even joke about his career resurgence.
In the series, Welling and Fraser star opposite one another. What started as a lighthearted joke from Welling turned into a prescient remark and a funny shared moment for both. Here’s how the Professionals actor laid out the story:
I’m actually in New Orleans right now filming The Winchesters and I joked with Brendan when this show was coming out that I was really happy that Professionals could sort of help this big relaunch for him. [Laughs.] He had a good chuckle over that. And yeah, he’s doing great. I saw him about two weeks ago in New York and he’s really enjoying the moment right now. I couldn’t be more happy for him, he’s one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.
A CW streaming original, Professionals sees Brendan Fraser and Tom Welling as two men who are part of a team trying to stop a global pandemic. Since the series was filmed before COVID-19 but released to audiences this year, Welling inadvertently got to see the before and the after phase of the actor's buzzy turn in Hollywood. In its own way, Professionals was also a resurgence story for Welling, as it was his return to the network that helped him strike it big.
It’s a connection that probably helped shape his interactions with Brendan Fraser, as their characters in Professionals bond through their own common ground. That chemistry even seems to have changed how Fraser’s billionaire Peter Swann got along with Tom Welling’s security expert Vincent Corbo. Welling also said as much while discussing the original script in the interview with TV Insider, and how it morphed in the delivery:
Everybody’s sort of [shady]. That’s why Brendan’s character and my character sort of bond. When I was first looking at the project almost five years ago, Brendan’s character was written as really unlikeable. He just wasn’t a nice guy. And then when Brendan came on, he put his spin on it and it’s so difficult to not like him, right? Because he’s so likable and that’s his genius.
Score another example of how darned likable Brendan Fraser is. In this, the time of his Brenaissance, such tales are only going to help boost his profile, and more than likely score him some more gigs. That is, of course, on top of the buzz Fraser has received for The Whale, which has some already calling for an Oscar win in his favor. Should that happen, maybe the attention will bode well for the actor and Welling, as that hypothetical news could make greenlighting another season of Professionals easier.
Professionals is currently streaming online through The CW, with new episodes debuting each Wednesday. Meanwhile, Tom Welling is filming his role in the canon-breaking Supernatural prequel The Winchesters, which is currently airing on The CW, Tuesdays at 8 PM ET. As for Brendan Fraser, he can be seen on the Max Original Doom Patrol, provided you have an active HBO Max subscription.
