His career ‘withered on a vine’
Brendan Fraser has picked up his first ever Oscar and is one of the most liked figures in the movie world, but there was a time when he was blacklisted from Hollywood after a traumatic experience.
On Sunday night, Fraser won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his heartbreaking portrayal of a 600lb recluse in The Whale.
The 54-year-old beat off competition from Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy to pick up one of the biggest prizes in cinema at the 95th Academy Awards.
The win marked the completion of a triumphant return for Fraser. After soaring to international stardom in the late 1990s and early 2000s through his roles in The Mummy and George of the Jungle, he seemed to disappear from the spotlight.
But this wasn’t through choice. In fact, Fraser had been the victim of historic abuse
In 2018 interview with GQ, Fraser alleged he had been groped and assaulted in 2003 by Philip Berk, a former president and current member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that stages the Golden Globes.
Fraser said that after Berk went to shake his hand at the event, he pinched his bottom, and then in Fraser’s words “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.”
In the interview: “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.”
The incident left Fraser “depressed” and “reclusive”, and he says his career “withered on a vine.”
Berk described the incident in his memoir and it was also reported in The New York Times, but Berk denies anything more than touching his behind. Berk later wrote an apology letter to Fraser, but denied any wrongdoing.
Berk has always maintained the claims were a “total fabrication” and that he had been joking with the actor.
Following an investigation into the incident, Fraser was reportedly asked to sign a statement saying that the “evidence supports that [Berk’s behavior] was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.”
He refused to sign the statement, and says the HFPA has still not apologised.
Fraser claims he found himself shut out from the HFPA and the Golden Globes awards, leading him to wonder if he’d been blacklisted.
Last year, Fraser said he would not attend the Golden Globes if he was nominated for his performance in The Whale, saying: “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. I will not participate.”
He continued: “It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite.
“You can call me a lot of things but not that.”
In an emotional acceptance speech following his win on Sunday, the actor said: “I thank the academy for this honour… Darren Aronofsky for throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship The Whale.”
“I started in this business 30 years ago…there was a facility that that I didn’t appreciate at the time until it stopped.”
Related links:
Can you ace this ultimate Brendan Fraser quiz?
Brendan Fraser delivers tearful speech after winning Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards
Brendan Fraser ‘not opposed’ to reprising role in The Mummy film franchise
