Why did Brendan Fraser take the role of Cliff "Robotman" Steele in DC Universe's Doom Patrol? While he's largely abandoned film for television and got his start in comedic films, the role of Robotman still seems like an odd fit given Fraser's previous work in various action films and his once being the front-runner for several traditional superhero movies.
While he is most recognized today for his work as Rick O'Connell in the 1999 film The Mummy and its sequels, Fraser first found fame playing the title role in the comedy Encino Man. Despite being most frequently remembered as an action hero, Fraser was also a gifted comedic performer, who found success playing parodies of heroic archetypes in films like George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right. Many comic readers thought that Fraser's talents and charisma made him a natural choice for many superheroic roles and at one time he was the fan favorite choice to play Captain Marvel/Shazam, before Zachary Levi was cast in the role.
Despite reportedly being something of a comics buff as a kid, the only superhero role Fraser ever officially read for was Superman in Superman Returns, which he lost to Brandon Routh. Fraser scaled back his acting somewhat, as he underwent surgery and physical therapy to cope with the injuries he acquired doing the stunt-work on The Mummy movies. He also is believed to have been black-listed after he complained of suffering sexual harassment from the former President of the HFPA, further stalling his career in film.
This physical and emotional toll made one aspect of playing Robotman appealing to Fraser as he started getting back into acting; he is rarely needed on-set. Actor Riley Shanahan plays the physical body of Robotman, while Fraser's voice is dubbed in later, though Fraser does still appear in Doom Patrol playing Cliff Steele in various flashback scenes and dream sequences. In an interview with Heroic Hollywood, Fraser said it was nice that he didn't have to go into the studio that often and that "I can do ADR on a cell phone." Fraser was also quick to credit Shanahan for his contributions to the Robotman character, describing his co-star as a "wonderful comedic performer with fantastic timing" and saying that he enjoyed the unique challenges posed by collaborating with another actor on bringing a character to life.
Cliff Steele being unlike the characters Fraser normally plays is another reason why he enjoys his role on Doom Patrol so much. In an interview on the DC Comics website, Fraser described Cliff as a "textbook narcissist" who "wasn't such a stellar human, but he has another obscure long shot at being a better person." The irony that Cliff Steele was a monster as a man who later became a hero in a monstrous body was a major theme of the original Doom Patrol comics and it is an aspect of the character that Fraser has come to appreciate, pointing out that Cliff in the first season of Doom Patrol became "a better human as a robot than he was a human."