Hollywood failed Brendan Fraser and it is good that the beloved actor is making a comeback into feature-length films. While Fraser has continued to work steadily over the past few years, his star has not shined as brightly as when he was one of Hollywood's most bankable action stars 20 years ago. Thankfully, that seems to be changing, as Fraser has been cast in a variety of prominent upcoming film projects, including Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's latest collaboration, Killers of the Flower Moon.
Brendan Fraser first achieved prominence in the title role in the comedy Encino Man, playing an unfrozen caveman dubbed Link. Though he is primarily remembered today as an action hero for his work in The Mummy trilogy, Fraser was also a gifted comedic performer, who proved capable of alternating between serious drama and family comedies with ease. This versatility left Fraser in high demand and made him a fan favorite to replace Christopher Reeve in the role of Superman.
Sadly, a series of unfortunate events drove Fraser out of the spotlight. While he still acted, the roles he received were not as flashy as those he had once enjoyed, like those in The Mummy franchise. Thankfully, that has changed in recent years, thanks to a number of regular supporting roles on series such as The Affair and Condor and Fraser is once again, quite rightly, in demand and in the public eye. Yet many are unaware of just why Fraser seemed to leave Hollywood for a time and why he is just now staging a comeback.
What Happened To Brendan Fraser: How Hollywood Failed The Actor
According to Fraser, his troubles began in the summer of 2003, at the height of his popularity. In a 2018 interview with GQ, Fraser detailed how he had been sexually assaulted by Phillip Berk, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) which organizes the Golden Globe Awards, while attending a luncheon. Fraser rejected Berk's advances but, embarrassed by the incident, did not look into pressing criminal charges against the president of the HFPA. It was after this incident that Fraser believed Berk began exerting influence to ruin his career and make his life a misery within Hollywood. Berk, it should be noted, has denied all of Fraser's claims completely.
Another problem Fraser faced during this time was a series of surgeries that took him in and out of the hospital over a seven-year period. These were largely the result of the stunt work that he had performed in his role as the typical action hero Rick O'Connell while he was hard at work filming the Jungle Cruise-inspiring The Mummy Returns and included a partial knee replacement, a laminectomy, and vocal cord surgery. The recovery time for these procedures limited his availability and which roles he could safely take.
As a result of the emotional turmoil of his assault, the feeling that he was being ostracized by the acting community, and the stress of his surgery, Fraser sunk into a deep depression. This was further aggravated by the death of his beloved mother and his divorce from actress Afton Smith. Given all that, it is no wonder that Fraser, feeling abused and discarded by Hollywood, elected to scale back his film work and pursue projects far away from the studio system that shunned him.
Brendan Fraser's Acting Career Is Finally Getting A Second Chance
After several years of supporting roles, there came an oddly appropriate role; Cliff "Robotman" Steele in the DC Universe series Doom Patrol, and Fraser was in. The character, a famous race car driver whose brain was implanted into a robot body, was far and away from the sort of clean-cut heroes Fraser was famous for playing, being a '"textbook narcissist" who became "a better human as a robot than he was a human," according to Fraser. The role posed an interesting challenge for Fraser, who, while playing Cliff Steele in flashbacks from before his accident, primarily worked in tandem with actor Riley Shanahan to bring Robotman to life with Fraser's voice. Fraser, to his credit, is quick to credit Shanahan with doing most of the heavy lifting in their partnership, describing him as a "wonderful comedic performer with fantastic timing." High praise indeed, given the source.
Since the premiere of Doom Patrol and the introduction of Robotman, Fraser's star has continued to rise and his name has since been attached to several prominent upcoming films alongside some of today's major acting stars. Fraser will appear in the latest film from Mother! director Darren Aronofsky, The Whale, which is based around a man with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter. Fraser is also starring in Behind The Curtain of Night, a fantasy piece about a man who comes back from the dead with the memories of all his past lives restored. Perhaps most impressively, Fraser was recently announced as playing lawyer W.S. Hamilton in Martin Scorsese's upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon, which boasts an impressive ensemble including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jesse Plemons.
Why Brendan Fraser's Comeback Is So Important
At a time when many women in Hollywood were rallying and forming the #MeToo movement to fight back against serial sexual harassers like Harvey Weinstein and Joss Whedon, Brendan Fraser's account of his harassment was unique. While other actors, such as Terry Crews, James Van Der Beek, and Alex Winter have spoken out about their own experiences with unwanted groping, Fraser was the most prominent male actor to step forward and identify himself as a survivor of sexual assault. While men suffer sexual harassment far less often than women, the stigma they face when it occurs and when they speak out against it is oftentimes greater, due to the public pressure in Western culture for men to be tougher than that and shrug off such things as acceptable horseplay. Brendan Fraser should be commended for his courage in coming forward and helping to fight against this perception, showing other men who have suffered as he has that there is no shame in being a survivor.
Audiences should be pleased that Fraser is making a comeback for reasons far beyond the fact that he is a talented performer it was always enjoyable to see at work. By most accounts, Brendan Fraser is as affable and charming as the characters he first found fame playing and he deserved far better treatment from the Hollywood machine than he enjoyed in recent memory. As such, it is a good thing that he is once again finding major film work and once again being recognized as the star he always was.