It’s a very happy birthday today as Brendan Fraser marks a successful year after becoming an Oscar-winning actor in March and having a new film out in cinemas.
But before this past year of celebration, it seemed like the movie star had pretty much disappeared into obscurity.
Fraser, who turns 55 today, was quite the box-office staple in the late 90s and early 00s, popping up in iconic films like The Mummy, Bedazzled and George of The Jungle.
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However he then seemed to fall off the face of the planet before enjoying a resurgence with The Whale in 2022 and, more recently, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
But just where did he go for all those years in between?
Well, it turns out it wasn’t out of choice as Fraser gave a number of pretty good reasons for his disappearance.
The actor felt he’d been ‘blacklisted’ by the industry as he opened up in 2018 about historic abuse.
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Fraser 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.
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 actor 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.
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"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 was expelled from the HFPA in 2021 for a ‘racist email’, 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."
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.
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After this, the actor suffered personal setbacks including issues with his own health, divorce and the loss of his mother.
But it now seems Fraser is back strong, with fans excited by his return to acting.
Last year’s The Whale saw 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.
For the role, Fraser is unrecognisable due to 'amazing prosthetics' that moulded him into his 600lb character.
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Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the movie, with the film going on to received great critical and commercial success.
Featured Image Credit: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images / A24Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Brendan Fraser