Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar have reunited for the first time in 18 years with Breaking Bear, and the pair are ready for the show to ruffle some feathers. Fraser and Gellar previously co-starred together in the 2007 ensemble crime drama The Air I Breathe, with the two remaining friends in the years that followed, including a surprise appearance from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star at 2023’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival to award him the American Riviera Award for outstanding achievement in film for The Whale.
The two are back together in the Breaking Bear cast as Jer and Blair Bear, two of three siblings in the titular family who, in an effort to save their forest from the impending arrivals of frackers, mobsters and a vicious wolf pack, turn to a life of crime. The animated series will also see the pair going up against a local biker gang, a conceited human news anchor and general family dysfunction.
Breaking Bear has assembled a star-studded roster to join Fraser and Gellar, with Frozen vet Josh Gad starring as the Bears’ baby brother, Alistair and Schitt’s Creek vet Annie Murphy as the reporter, Tawny. Additionally, the series offers another reunion for Fraser with Elizabeth Hurley, whom he starred alongside in the Harold Ramis-directed remake of Bedazzled, and is starring in the animated comedy as the menacing Wolf Queen.
In honor of the show’s presence at New York Comic Con 2025, ScreenRant hosted Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elizabeth Hurley and Annie Murphy in our media suite to discuss Breaking Bear. The former duo reflected on their varying reunions with Fraser on the animated comedy, while also offering some insight into their characters’ dynamics and why they think the show is going to get all of them in trouble.
Breaking Bear Is An “Equal Opportunity Offender”
Breaking Bear‘s creation and 2026 release come in the midst of an ongoing boom in adult animation ever since Rick and Morty‘s mammoth success inspired other studios to try their hands in similar ways. This has led to everything from the upcoming series, which hails from Julien Nitzberg (Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus), to Hulu’s Solar Opposites, which just ended with season 6, and Netflix’s Big Mouth, which also just concluded with season 8.
In reflecting on this recent surge in popularity, Gellar believes that because “our world is so crazy“, animated shows directed towards older viewers are “able to do proper commentary“ and allow both the creators and stars the opportunity to “say what you want to say” and “do the things that you want to do“. Hurley concurred by calling the show “quite liberating” to make, with Fraser chuckling as he admits, “I’m just glad someone else is writing it“.
Oh yeah, if someone sent me this role in live-action, I’d be like, “No, wrong person”.
In discussing what audiences should expect from the overall tone of Breaking Bear, Gellar admitted she and her co-stars are “so limited in what we can say“, but did tease that “there is not a pop culture reference or a news story that we don’t find a way to skewer“. Murphy further expounded on recent discussions of “comedy being dead“, acknowledging that while there’s a feeling “everyone [is] being just too precious“, the cast were shocked by the scripts.
Gellar described it as being an “equal opportunity offender“, and expressed that if someone is “not offended” by Breaking Bear, it’s because “you’re not watching“. Fraser agreed with his co-stars, telling us to “be excited for the hilarity to ensue” and smiling as he said in a singsong-y voice that they’re “gonna get in trouble” for the show’s material, which Murphy said she’s excited for.
The Show Has A Unique Dysfunctional Family And Surrounding Characters
One thing that has proven to be a consistent thread across much of modern adult animation is having a sitcom-like format, centering on either a family or a group of friends in their lives. Breaking Bear is keeping that structure alive, with the titular animal family displaying the same humorous dysfunctions as human ones. For Fraser, he describes Jer Bear as being someone who “screws things up“, even though he believes “I’m in charge“. However, secretly, his character is “really just interested in eating and eating“, requiring Gellar’s Blair to “come in and have to save the day“.
A character who Blair finds herself having to fight to protect her family is that of the vicious Wolf Queen, with Hurley explaining that the conflict between her pack of wolves and the titular family is that “she doesn’t want them in her domain” of Wolf Hollows. As such, the Bears coming in with their criminal aims leads to the plan to “kill the bears“. Hurley and Gellar humorously displayed some of their characters’ rivalries, saying their opposing animals “would win” in a fight in nature.
Before diving into her own character, Murphy pointed out that there “is power in numbers” when it comes to a fight, teasing that the wolves “have a big old pack“. As for playing Tawny, when it came to finding the proper way to play her reporter character, Gellar initially joked that “her breasts” were the secret to mastering the role, with the Schitt’s Creek star laughing as she said it was Tawny’s “bodacious breasts and horny sensibilities“.
“I had fun with it, because I had, like, three different voices,” Murphy explained. “One was my news anchor voice, one was just my normal voice, and then one was my thirsty, horny voice. It was fun. I took a little bit of my news anchor voice from Trisha Takanawa from Family Guy. I stole a little bit of her inflection. But, yeah, I had a real outrageous time playing this character.“
Everything Else We Learned From The Breaking Bear Cast
ScreenRant: I know that with anything that’s animated, anything where you’re lending your voice to the role, sometimes you’ll record in different time zones, in different areas. Is this the first time you guys have met as a cast? Is this a reunion?
Elizabeth Hurley: No, we did the upfronts together, which was the first time that I’d met Sarah and Annie, but Brendan and I knew each other anyway.
Brendan Fraser: Yeah, from like, the turn of the century, I think? [Chuckles] She hasn’t aged. Is it like drinking baby’s blood or something? Speaking of which, you should check out Breaking Bear.
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Yes, where we don’t drink baby’s blood. Or maybe we do, or maybe we do.
Brendan Fraser: Maybe in season 2?
ScreenRant: I do have one question outside of Breaking Bear, Brendan. The Mummy franchise is something so near and dear to my heart, and I saw that you and The Rock had a reunion at TIFF a month ago ahead of the premiere of The Smashing Machine. Someone said that after that conversation, you let it slip that you just said to him, “This is your moment,” and I’d love for you to just provide insight on that.
Brendan Fraser: I’m sure you would, but that was a private conversation. [Laughs] If you were eavesdropping — I just wanted him to know that he’s a huge talent, and he’s got a place in my heart always, and I wished him the best of luck with this film.
Breaking Bear is set to premiere on Tubi in March 2026.
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