Brendan Fraser has revealed the reason that he thinks he disappeared from screens for so long after enjoying a fantastic amount of success during his early career, claiming he was 'blacklisted'.
Everyone loves Brendan Fraser, right?
He was an absolute box-office guarantee back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, playing the lead role in films like The Mummy and George of the Jungle.
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However, the heartthrob fell off the face of the planet - seemingly - for quite a while after that, before enjoying a resurgence that started with The Whale - for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor - and continues with Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon.
So, what happened during the time he was away?
It appears the 90s favourite wasn't out of work by choice, but because he felt he's been 'blacklisted' by Hollywood after opening up in 2018 about historic abuse.
The actor claimed that he was the victim of sexual abuse in Hollywood, alleging that former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) Philip Berk sexually abused him.
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In an interview with GQ in 2018, Fraser claimed his career 'withered on a vine' after he was allegedly groped by Berk at a HFPA luncheon event back in 2003, leaving him feeling 'miserable', 'depressed', and 'reclusive'.
The 54-year-old said: "His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around. I felt ill.
"I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry... In my mind, at least, something had been taken away from me."
Berk, who is still a member of the HFPA, previously tried to describe the incident as a joke in his 2014 memoir, and in a recent statement given to GQ, he added: "His career declined through no fault of ours."
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After his shocking revelation, Fraser received a written apology but claims he found himself shut out from the HFPA and the Golden Globes awards, leading him to wonder if he'd been blacklisted.
After this, the actor suffered personal setbacks including issues with his own health, divorce and the loss of his mother.
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However, Fraser now seems to be coming back strong, with fans excited for his return to acting.
One of his latest movies,The Whale, sees the actor playing a 600lb man trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter (Sadie Sink of Stranger Things fame) years after he abandoned his family.
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For the role, Fraser is unrecognisable due to 'amazing prosthetics' that moulded him into his 600lb character.
Aforementioned, Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the movie, with the film going on to received great critical and commercial success.
Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Brendan Fraser
Jess Hardiman