Did a male #MeToo scandal ruin the career of one of Hollywood’s hottest hunks?

At last month’s London Film Festival, when audience members gave the tearful actor a five-minute standing ovation for his role as a self-loathing 43-stone gay man confined to a wheelchair, they We were celebrating one of the most notable figures. Most fascinating — a recent comeback in Hollywood history.

For the man in question, it was Brendan Fraser who was moved to tears by the praise, and it wasn’t long before he was one of Tinseltown’s hottest stars.

The applause was for his critically acclaimed and moving performance in The Whale, his first lead role in a movie in a decade.

In it, he donned a “fat suit” to play an English teacher suffering from morbid obesity, conducting online classes with the cameras off in search of redemption.

Brendan Fraser pictured attending the gala UK premiere of The Whale during the 66th Annual BFI London Film Festival at the Royal Festival Hall on October 11th.

These are all apt metaphors for the 53-year-old Fraser. Fraser once appeared onscreen as the handsome and likable hero of her blockbuster adventures such as The Mummy and his Disney comedies such as George of the Jungle, before suddenly and mysteriously disappearing from sight. I erased. — though he struggled with his weight.

“What happened to Brendan Fraser?” has been a question that has echoed for years well beyond the film industry. When the actor shockingly revealed four years ago that he was a male #MeToo victim of Hollywood sexual abuse, he tried to work things out.

The Canadian-American actor, with his clear blue eyes, droopy hair, and imposing physique, was a classic unconventional movie idol. He played the goofy hero in the 1997 Tarzan parody George of the Jungle.

It was a family comedy, and it was later revealed that the film’s producers were bothered by revealing too much of Fraser’s personal side.

Adventures: Co-starred with Rachel Weisz in the 2001 film. But in his big-budget The Mummy movie trilogy, which ran from 1999 to 2008, he, along with his co-star Rachel Weisz (and later Maria Bello), pitted himself against the ancient Egyptians. played a good explorer.

Picture of Fraser at the ‘Whales’ premiere at Mill Valley Film Festival 2022 in California last month

“Disney wanted me to look like a cross between a model, Mr. Universe, and a sex idol. I started worrying about whether to lower it or lower it.”

The following year, when he starred in the Oscar-winning film Gods and Monsters as the gay horror film director’s straight muse, played by Ian McKellen, he made a similar appearance when he disappeared from a frontal nudity scene. Arguments arose again.

But in the big-budget The Mummy movie trilogy, which ran from 1999 to 2008, he and his co-star Rachel Weisz (and later Maria Bello) battled the ancient Egyptians in a dashing battle. I played an explorer. .

In other more serious films, he starred in The Quiet American with Michael Caine, with Harrison Ford in Temporary Measures.

In fact, he seemed to be everywhere in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then suddenly, he was nowhere to be found, his career sinking into the moving sands of the celebrity desert, as if he were the victim of a mummy’s curse.

His marriage to actress Afton Smith, with whom he has three children, ended in a messy divorce in 2008.

And, in humiliating acknowledgment of his declining status and lack of work, in 2013 he demanded a reduction in spousal and child support payments.

According to court papers, he was in the red of £76,000 a month due to a divorce settlement, medical bills for a back injury and large business expenses. However, his ex-wife later accused him of hiding assets worth around £22m to avoid paying.

The death of Fraser’s mother Carol from cancer in 2016 was an even bigger blow. His career ended in failure. Some of his most die-hard fans were so upset by his absence that they launched a petition asking Hollywood to “consider Brendan for upcoming shows/movies planned.” I got

They said he “seemed very depressed and we loyal fans feel obligated to help him in any way we can. Please help Brendan get back on his feet. Without him.” I miss you

They demanded his “Brenaissance,” and a petition they launched gathered nearly 46,000 signatures.

Jungle Antics: Brendan Fraser in the 1997 Tarzan Impersonator

Fraser is pictured attending Variety’s The New York Party at the American Bar on October 19th.

Its creator claimed victory when he won the critically acclaimed role in Danny Boyle’s 2018 television drama Trust, playing billionaire J. Paul Getty’s eccentric ex-CIA fixer. That same year, GQ magazine asked Fraser in an interview to explain what happened to his career.

In the summer of 2003, at the age of 34 and at the height of his fame, he attended a luncheon hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

As he left, he said he was welcomed by the association’s former president, Philip Burke.

Burke shook hands and, as Burke later admitted, pinched Fraser’s buttocks.

Burke, a South African journalist who was 70 at the time, claimed it was a lighthearted adjustment. But the actor said GQ it wasn’t playful. “And he set it in motion”.

Mr. Fraser said he was overwhelmed with panic and fear and eventually let go of Mr. Berk’s hand. “I felt sick. I felt like a little kid. I thought I was going to cry,” he said.

He hurried home and told his wife what had happened. “I felt like someone threw invisible paint at me,” he said.

He considered publicly denouncing Burke, but did not want the crime to become “part of my story”. His representative asked the HFPA for a written apology.

Berk told GQ that Fraser’s account was “completely fabricated.” However, he also said he wrote to Fraser to apologize if he “did something that offended him,” without admitting wrongdoing. He claimed he said he would never allow him to be in the room again (which Berk denies).

The HFPA conducted an investigation and concluded that “what Mr. Fraser experienced was inappropriate”, but said the butt-touching was intended as a joke and was not a sexual invitation.

Fraser said he started feeling depressed and telling himself he deserved what happened.

I was blaming myself. This man stretched his hand around him to get a feel for it. ‘

The experience with Burke made him “withdraw” and “feel withdrawn” from Hollywood, he said. Work has withered to the vine for me. Something was being stolen from me, at least in my heart.

At the same time, his body fell apart. Performing his own stunts in the all-action mummy movie took a physical toll.

By the time he made his third film, he was put under costume “tied up in tape and ice, wearing ice packs and mountain bike padding.”

His various injuries required surgeries such as a laminectomy (where part of a vertebra is removed), a partial knee replacement, and vocal cord repair.

When acting jobs began to dry up, he wondered if the HFPA, which runs the Golden Globe Awards, had blacklisted him. He argued that it would never happen.

“The silence was deafening,” he said. “The phone stops ringing and you start asking yourself why. There are many reasons, could this be one of them? I think it was.’

Berk denied that the HFPA had retaliated against Fraser, saying that “his career has declined through no fault of ours.”

Hollywood observers were certainly able to point to other reasons his career may have stalled. and the mediocre third mummy film, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (where the producers replaced Fraser in both sequels).

In fact, the lighthearted Indiana Jones-esque adventure movies were losing out to the increasingly popular superhero movies.

But Fraser’s influential account of Hollywood’s misfortunes on GQ was well-timed. With allegations of misconduct raging, it has become much easier for people in the industry to come forward with what they have experienced, and much more likely for others to do the same. believe them.

Fraser said he was encouraged by the anti-harassment movement #MeToo and the Time’s Up movement, as well as actresses such as Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and Mira Sorvino coming forward and working with them. .

“I saw this great movement. These people had the courage to say things I didn’t have the courage to say,” he said. Except that now he had.

The interview got quite a bit of attention, and Hollywood seemed to get the message.

He’s put on a lot of weight, so he hasn’t been kind to Fraser’s potential as a romantic lead for years. You can explore the role of various “characters”.

Steven Soderbergh has included him in the ensemble cast of the acclaimed 2021 thriller No Sudden Move. Martin Scorsese has cast him as a lawyer in the upcoming Western crime drama The Killer of Flower Moon, alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

And of course, his performance in The Whale was met with enthusiastic ovation not only in London, but also at the Venice Film Festival in September, where audiences stood for six minutes, leading to Oscar talk.

Whether or not he wins an Academy Award next March, it’s clear that, like a mummy, the Brenaissance Man has risen from the dead. And not ahead of time.