Fraser, in 1999 in the movie ‘The Mummy’ and in the movie ‘The Whale’, released this year. /
The actor receives a tribute at the Mostra after three decades of suffering for having become a plague of Hollywood. The image of him today is far from the one that made him famous
Brendan Fraser is, at 53 years old, a broken man who has been able to put all his pieces back together to be reborn. A Hollywood phoenix. The actor reached the peak of his career in the 1990s as the lead in those blockbuster action and comedy films that dazzled audiences. His first big hit was “George of the Jungle,” a film that grossed $170 million. He then rose to the top with ‘The Mummy’ trilogy, films that grossed over $400.
It was his golden age. She was not missing from any photocall and her image decorated the folders of the teenagers of the 90s. Three decades have passed since then and her image today is very different. And not just because of her physique. Fraser is a survivor who has been able to surf, not without pain, all the waves that have tried to knock him down. In his fight, he has weighed 300 kilos, has suffered a deep depression and has had to undergo surgery countless times.
Fraser, in a scene from the ‘The Mummy’ trilogy. /
Perhaps his checking account has many zeros, but his body cracked when he was at the top and the blow was so hard that he has not been able to recover until a little over a year ago. Her hell started with injuries that occurred during the filming of stunts. He never wanted to use doubles and ended up “broken”.
An exoskeleton to roll
A broken rib, knee trauma and vocal cord problems, hundreds of contusions and a spinal disc injury are just a few of Fraser’s war injuries. «When I made the third installment of ‘The Mummy’ [2008] I was wrapped with ice and bandages. I made an exoskeleton every day », he has confessed years later. That separated him for the first time from an industry where if you are not seen, you are dead.
Then came his divorce from actress Afton Smith, which was not easy and lasted two years, and a murky relationship with influential journalist Philip Berk, who subjected him to sexual abuse. All of this made him sick and undermined his resilience, that ability that humans have to overcome traumatic circumstances.
Every year he had to pay his ex $900,000 in child support and child support for their three children at a time when his medical bills had skyrocketed and his income had plummeted. But it wasn’t the worst, that came with Berk, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. In 2003, he abused the actor in a hotel, as the victim herself confessed years later.
Berk’s sexual abuse
He approached her, with his left hand he grabbed one of her buttocks and one of his fingers slipped through the perianal area. “He made me feel sick. I felt like a little child. As if he had a ball in his throat. I thought he was going to cry », Fraser has been honest. He did not tell for fear of rejection and that made him a lonely person. He ended up withdrawing from the spotlight and was never invited to the Golden Globes again.
Brendan Fraser and his girlfriend in Venice these days. /
The tragedy was rounded off with the death of his mother, and there the actor was no longer able to get up. He plunged into a deep depression from which he has not managed to recover until two years ago. These days he is a new man in Venice, where he has received a moving tribute. He presents his new film, ‘The Whale’, directed by Darren Aronofski, where he plays someone far removed from those 90’s heroes who took away street girls.
again to the limit
During filming he again put his health to the limit. He gained up to 300 kilos – of which he has already lost a few – to become a lonely English teacher with low self-esteem, unable to connect with his teenage daughter. It is his first leading role in ten years: «He is very far from everything I have done. I know that he will make a lasting impression ».
Brendan Fraser is moved to tears by the six-minute standing ovation he received at the end of the screening of #TheWhale. The film has divided the critics but everyone agrees in praising his work and pointing him out as a favorite #Oscar.pic.twitter.com/M8LAYSRcfC
For Your Consideration (@FYC_Oscar) September 4, 2022
The preparation led Fraser to join the Obese in Action Coalition. He wanted to understand the mental pressure to which these patients are subjected. “This may be the first and last time I do this for a character, so I’ve given it my all,” she explained.
In the Mostra he has been seen happy, and he has also realized that all his ordeal has come to an end. That he has returned through the big door to the ring. The six-minute ovation he received at the end of the film’s screening is the ultimate proof. This broken Hollywood toy, one more, is back, put together. He is a master of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing what is broken, a philosophy of life.