Brendan Fraser’s comeback story is something that feels straight out of the movies, but it is real. After allegedly getting blacklisted from Hollywood, the actor made a comeback with The Whale, and at the 2023 Academy Awards, he bagged the coveted Best Actor award. Fraser was visibly shaken and overwhelmed when he went up on stage to receive the golden statue. During his speech, the actor mentioned how hard he had to work to get here and the difficulties he had to face in the industry.
Brendan Fraser Speaks About His Career Hardships At The 2023 Oscars
When Brendan Fraser was announced as the Best Actor winner for The Whale at the 2023 Academy Awards, it looked like he couldn’t believe it. When he went up on stage to collect his award, he received a standing ovation from the audience. With a shaking voice, he said, “so this is what the multiverse looks like. My Goodness.” In his speech, he further said:
“I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me, but there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at that time until it stopped. And I want to say thank you for this acknowledgment.”
The actor was once the talk of the town with memorable films like George of the Jungle, Crash, The Mummy franchise, and more. But tragedies took him away from the profession he loved. He finally made a comeback with The Whale and the actor profusely thanks everyone behind the movie who made the impossible, possible for him. Fraser said:
“I thank the academy for this honor and for our studio A24 for making such a bold film and I am grateful to Darren Aronofsky for throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship The Whale. It is written by Samuel D. Hunter who is our lighthouse. Gentlemen, you laid your whale-sized hearts bare so that we could see into your souls like no one else could do and it is my honor to be named alongside you in this category.”
The actor’s departure from the acting world was not due to just one incident, but several that deeply affected him. It truly looks like various universes came together to give him what he always deserved.
Brendan Fraser’s Troubled Past Affected His Career
In 2018, during an interview with GQ, Brendan Fraser alleged that Philip Berk, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association sexually assaulted him in 2003 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The actor said that “I felt like a kid with a lump in my throat” when the incident happened to him. He also claimed that he was blacklisted from Hollywood due to Berk. The former HFPA president has denied all of Fraser’s allegations.
Along with this, his divorce from his now ex-wife in 2009 also allegedly curtailed the actor’s career. To make matters worse, Fraser was deeply affected by his mother, Carol Mary’s death in 2016 too. All of these tragedies kept the once prolific and bankable star away from the silver screen. But his golden opportunity came when he played the role of Charlie, a man weighing over 400 pounds in the critically acclaimed The Whale. It remains to be seen where Brendan Fraser’s career goes from this Oscar win.
Source: ABC7
