On Brendan Fraser's winding career and his return to the 270-pound role (10 photos)

There must be many good actors.





This year, at the Venice Film Festival, a new film by Darren Aronofsky, known to us primarily for the film “Requiem for a Dream,” will be shown. The film is called "The Whale" and stars Brendan Fraser. This is the first major role for Fraser, one of the most sought-after actors of the 1990s and 2000s, in 10 years. In this regard, the Internet started talking about the Renaissance - an era of renaissance for Brendan Fraser. Daren Aronofsky once successfully brought back Mickey Rourke, who had sunk into oblivion in Hollywood, with the film “The Wrestler,” so he has experience in reviving the careers of stars.



Still from the film "The Whale". Very similar to the Family Guy movie.

In "The Whale," Fraser plays a 500-pound man trying to connect with his 17-year-old daughter (played by Sadie Sink, the red-haired girl from Stranger Things). The actor does not reveal details about his new work, but says that he has never done anything like this before, and that viewers will definitely be surprised. Viewers are already surprised by Fraser's physical transformation.

Some media outlets that published a still from the film claim that Fraser gained weight up to 270 kg for the role. But, fortunately, Fraser plays in makeup and he did not ruin his health for the sake of the role. (Somewhere, perhaps, Christian Bale is now angry that he was not given the opportunity to regain his record weight for the role.) Moreover, his sudden departure from big cinema is partly related to health.





On the left is a still from the film “The Mummy” (1999), on the right is Brendan Fraser in 2019. Of course, Fraser now does not look like he did 20 years ago, he has gained weight and there is no trace of his romantic hairstyle left, but still he did not push himself as much as the hero of the film “The Whale”.

In 2018, when Fraser slowly began to return to the screens, starting with small roles on TV, he gave a long interview to GQ. Talking about his very first film job in the film "Stupid Bet" (1991), he recalls how he was paid $50 extra for a stunt he performed on his own. Young Fraser was thrown into a slot machine in a bar and thought he broke several ribs. But for the sake of working in Hollywood, he was ready to do anything, so he even offered to do a couple more takes. Since then, he has always performed all his own stunts in movies, just like Jackie Chan.



"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (2008).

It’s clear that Fraser and Chan’s tricks are different, but not everyone can run and jump until they turn gray like they did at 20. The actor admitted that on the set of “Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” he put himself back together every day, placing bags wherever he could. with ice to relieve pain. After that, he spent 7 years moving from one hospital to another. He had his vertebrae replaced, his knee replaced, and ligament surgery performed. Because of all this, he had no time for a career. Moreover, the divorce from his wife, with whom he lived for 9 years, hit him hard.



"Inkheart" (2008).

In 2018, Fraser also spoke about an incident that occurred in 2003 at a gala hosted by the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association). HFPA President Philip Burke (he was expelled from the association in 2021 after a series of scandals) grabbed the actor’s ass, began groping and squeezing it. Fraser felt disgusted, he was confused, did not know what to do, and hastily left. In 2003, he did not announce this publicly, but wrote a statement to the HFPA. The association said that Burke did not mean anything bad, and Burke himself later wrote in his memoirs that he simply patted the actor on the butt in a friendly manner. In 2018, the HFPA conducted an internal investigation that found that Burke was not to blame, but did not publish the full results of the investigation.



In the film Looney Tunes: Back in Business (2003), Brendan Fraser plays Brendan Fraser's stunt double. In the finale, the double meets Fraser himself and punches him in the face. The actor admits that at that time he hated himself so much that he agreed to play in the film just to punch himself in the face.

Fraser believes that this story also influenced his career, and certainly influenced him. And the point here is not that Fraser was so deeply affected by the advances of his influential grandfather. Having written a complaint to the HFPA, he tossed around for a long time, thinking that he shouldn’t have done this, that, on the one hand, he was screwing himself over and nothing happened, on the other hand, he was tired of all this Hollywood abomination.



"George of the Jungle" (1997).

Fraser probably took a break from his career of his own free will. He's just tired of Hollywood. As proof, we can cite the story of auditions for the role of Superman. The actor was invited to director Brett Ratner's home for an audition. Ratner sat him down in a photo booth, took a few photos, and that was the end of the audition. Then it turned out that another director would direct the film, and Ratner was simply putting together a photo album of celebrity photos from the photo booth. He published the album, and Fraser again felt fooled.



Still from an interview in 2018.

When a movie star disappears from the screen, it is noticed only when she starts acting again. Fraser was remembered when he starred in the TV series “The Lovers.” And his 2018 interview, where he talked about filming “The Lovers,” became memes. The fact is that Fraser looked bad during the interview, it seemed like he was about to cry. The Internet sounded the alarm - Fraser needs help. It later turned out that a few days before the actor’s first interview in many years, his mother died of cancer.



Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow on the set of Killers of the Flower Moon.

Since then, fans have somehow fallen especially in love with Brendan Fraser. He is one of the sinless and meme celebrities of social networks along with Keanu Reeves and Leonardo DiCaprio. Brendan Fraser is truly touched by the care and support of his fans, and they, in turn, are sincerely happy about the coming Renaissance. After Fraser was directed not only by Aronofsky, but also by Scorsese in the upcoming film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring De Niro and DiCaprio, no one had any doubts about his triumphant return.



But is Fraser himself sure that his return will not bring him new disappointment in Hollywood? A month ago, at a meeting with fans, the actor was asked the question: “When did you realize that your decision to return to cinema was the right one?” Fraser replied that he realized this when he met a horse named Pecas (from the Spanish word for freckles). He met him on the set of the series Texas Rising. Fraser watched the animal and saw that his relatives did not accept the horse and were trying to offend him. Fraser befriended Pekas and took him to his ranch near New York. This friendship with the horse (who recently died) gave him the strength to return.