Following his acclaimed role in The Whale, Brendan Fraser explains why he’ll never think his Hollywood comeback will stick. Fraser rose to fame in the 1990s with movies like Encino Man, George of the Jungle, and The Mummy. He would later reprise his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell for two The Mummy sequels before retreating from Hollywood for a number of years. The actor most recently appeared in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, which earned him widespread critical acclaim and even an Oscar nomination, marking a major milestone in a comeback that has been dubbed “The Brenaissance”.
In a recent interview with NME, Fraser comments on the notion of his Hollywood comeback and reveals that he still fears the success could be taken away. The actor goes on to explain that the sense of “imposter syndrome” he feels is actually for the best, though, because it will continue to affect the types of roles he takes on in the future. Check out Fraser’s full comment below:
“I’m never gonna get that comfortable. And when I do that, I think it’s time to rethink my approach, because I’m always… I can’t get rid of the feeling that someone’s gonna walk in the room and tell me that I’m a fraud, or that I have impostor syndrome. They’re gonna hand me a dish-towel and I’ll have to go get back to work. But I hope I never lose that. In a way. Because I’m still not done proving myself yet. And to do that, I need bigger and greater challenges.”
Brendan Fraser’s Hollywood Comeback Explained
After rising to fame as an action star in The Mummy franchise and also starring in movies like Crash, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Extraordinary Measures, Fraser’s presence in Hollywood shrank in the mid-2000s. The actor would later open up about some of the struggles he experienced at this stage of his career, explaining that his role in The Mummy and other action-heavy movies took a heavy toll on his body, forcing him to undergo various surgeries.
In addition to the physical toll that came with being an action star, Fraser also claims that he was essentially blacklisted from Hollywood after alleging that he had been sexually assaulted by the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Fraser would continue to appear in small roles in smaller films throughout the 2010s, but largely disappeared from the public eye. It wasn’t until 2018 that the actor opened up regarding his absence in Hollywood, a year before he would take on a prominent role in the show Doom Patrol.
Fraser would then team up with Steven Soderbergh for No Sudden Move in 2021 before starring in The Whale last year. Fraser’s role as Charlie in The Whale is the first starring role in a Hollywood feature film that the actor has had in over a decade and, despite mixed reviews for the film as a whole, critics almost unanimously agree that Fraser’s performance is breathtaking. It remains to be seen what Fraser will do next, but his recent comeback has already ignited renewed calls for The Mummy 4.
Source: NME