Brendan Fraser’s rise, fall, and triumphant return
The public discourse has picked up and put down a fascination with Brendan Fraser many times over the years and for varying reasons. His life in the public eye began as a comedy and action megastar, then suddenly he seemed to disappear completely. Now, he’s back in the headlines for his stunning lead role in Darren Aronofsky’s latest psychological drama ‘The Whale,’ having broken into tears while the audience gave him an extended standing ovation.
Numerous pieces of information about what exactly happened to the actor have been fed to us over the years, but that made it difficult to ever get the full picture. Lucky for you, we’ve painted it here. Click through to discover how Brendan Fraser rocketed into Hollywood, crashed lower than we ever imagined, and adamantly climbed his way back up to the top.
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‘School Ties’ (1992)
That same year, he appeared in ‘School Ties’ alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, which helped associate his image with “heartthrob” in Hollywood. In the film, he played a Jewish teen hiding the truth about his culture and religion from his anti-Semitic classmates.
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‘Airheads’ (1994)
Fraser did well for himself in the comedy genre at the start of his career, including this flick about three band members (the other two played by Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi) who hold up a radio station with fake guns in order to get their song played.
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‘George of the Jungle’ (1997)
Then came one of his most memorable roles, George in Disney’s ‘George of the Jungle’ (1997). The popular film grossed nearly US$175 million, against a $55 million budget, which was not only a major box-office success but a guarantee for production companies that he was a bankable star.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001)
It was such a hit that Fraser reprised his portrayal of O’Connell two years later in 2001’s ‘The Mummy Returns,’ and then again in a third film. The first two films of the trilogy became Fraser’s best commercial successes.
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‘Gods and Monsters’ (1998)
In 1998, Fraser starred in the Oscar-winning film ‘Gods and Monsters’ alongside Ian McKellen. The movie won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and showed that Fraser could really act, as his blockbusters often didn’t demonstrate such craft.
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‘Bedazzled’ (2000)
In 2000, he starred in the rom-com ‘Bedazzled’ alongside Elizabeth Hurley, which was a remake of the 1967 movie with the same name. Now he was not only a movie star, but he was rubbing shoulders with the hottest models of the time.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Not without some criticism
Because of Fraser’s consistent roles in blockbuster films that weren’t necessarily considered serious, he was rarely lauded as a “respectable” actor. But he was quite clear about his decisions to do big films and publicly admitted it was about the money. “I was looking to start a family,” he told EW.
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‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action’ (2003)
For example, in 2003 he starred in ‘Looney Toons: Back in Action.’ Following this film, Fraser admitted to GQ that he started to star in films he was “less and less proud of.” And it was partly due to a dark reason.
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Sexual assault
In a bombshell article by GQ, Fraser revealed to the outlet that he was sexually assaulted by Philip Berk, former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), back in 2003. He said what Berk did (inappropriately touching his backside), made him feel “ill… like a little kid… like there was a ball in my throat.”
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Blacklisted
Fraser didn’t want to go public because he didn’t want the assault “becoming part of my narrative”—something the MeToo movement eventually helped him with—so instead his reps asked the HFPA for a written apology. But Fraser felt subsequently blacklisted from Hollywood as he was rarely invited back to the Golden Globes after 2003, and Berk still denied any wrongdoing. Fraser also suffered the mental fallout of the assault, telling GQ it made him “depressed” and “reclusive” afterwards.
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A hit to his ego
A notable kick while he was already down was when he lost out on the role of Superman, for which he was reportedly strongly considered at first, but which eventually went to Brandon Routh in ‘Superman Returns’ (2006). Fraser said losing that role had a huge emotional toll on him, making him feel like he “didn’t measure up” and had “failed.”
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He was also going through a divorce
In 2007, Fraser and his wife Afton Smith ended their marriage of nine years. They had three children together, all of whom were under the age of seven at the time of the divorce, which was obviously another immense obstacle to navigate.
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A failed end to ‘The Mummy’ trilogy
The third film ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,’ which came out seven years after the previous sequel, received mostly negative reviews from critics and grossed US$403 million worldwide, making it the trilogy’s lowest-grossing film.
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The physical toll of an action star
The toll of being a physical comedy actor and action star was huge, as Fraser was known for doing his own stunts and pushing himself to deliver the best work he could. “By the time I did the third Mummy picture in China,” he told GQ, “I was put together with tape and ice…I was building an exoskeleton for myself daily.”
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Health issues
His injuries eventually required multiple surgeries. “I needed a laminectomy,” a surgery which usually involves removing a small piece of the bones of the spine to enlarge the spinal canal and relieve pressure on the spinal cord. “And the lumbar didn’t take, so they had to do it again a year later.”
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Cruel media coverage
While dealing with all his physical issues, tabloids began to target him for his changing appearance, spewing cruel commentary about how he lost his abs and looked older—as most people tend to do with age.
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Financial drama
In 2013, reports began to circulate that Fraser was broke and had asked to reduce his US$900,000 annual child support payment to his ex-wife. According to the New York Post, Smith then accused Fraser of fraud and hiding $9 million in film contracts when their divorce settlement was agreed. Fraser then had to confirm he indeed had no money due to career struggles and medical bills.
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Philip Berk’s public denial of the assault
In his 2014 memoir, Berk tried to diminish the assault to a playful butt pinch which was “a joke.” Fraser told his own version of what happened in 2018. He also shared his appreciation for the women leading the MeToo movement. “Am I still frightened? Absolutely,” he told GQ. “Do I feel like I need to say something? Absolutely. Have I wanted to many, many times? Absolutely. Have I stopped myself? Absolutely.”
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Smaller roles
The former leading man and action star didn’t give up on his career, but was resigned to smaller roles and/or productions, including the lead role in a 2013 direct-to-DVD action thriller movie called ‘Breakout,’ and a small part on the Showtimes series ‘The Affair’ (2016-2017)—the latter of which was, however, critically acclaimed.
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A difficult loss
In 2016, Fraser’s AOL Build interview about his role in ‘The Affair’ went viral for how sad he looked, which led to numerous articles about the trajectory of his life and career. He later revealed that the truth was really that his mother had died of cancer mere days earlier, not to mention the fact that he was also very out of practice with interviews.
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‘Trust’ in his return
Fraser made his return as a leading man in television instead of film, starring in a 10-episode FX series titled ‘Trust’ in 2018 that recounts the story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. Director Danny Boyle said he was moved by all that Fraser had been through and who he’d become.
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Baby steps into film
Fraser had a supporting role in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘No Sudden Move’ in 2021, a period crime thriller starring Benicio del Toro and Don Cheadle that follows a group of criminals brought together under mysterious circumstances.
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‘The Whale’ (2022)
After years of being absent in movie theaters, Fraser has made his return to popular public discourse in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama about a 600-lb reclusive gay man who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter (played by Sadie Sink).
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His triumphant return
Not only did the film receive a huge, tear-eyed standing ovation for six whole minutes at the Venice Film Festival (through which Fraser reportedly also sobbed), but many are saying his performance puts him as a frontrunner for this year’s Best Actor Oscar.
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