It's been some time since Brendan Fraser was king of the box-office. He's starred 'The Mummy', a film that earned $1.2 million worldwide, been the face of 'George of the Jungle' and 'Bedazzled' and worked on successful projects like the Oscar award winning 'Crash' and Bill Condon's 'Gods and Monsters'. But one day, as happens with all Hollywood stars, the actor decided to pack it all in.
Normally, such a farewell to the spotlight can be down to numerous reasons, but Brendan Fraser has cut it down to just two in a sincere, tell-all interview with GQ. The actor, who is planning a return to acting with the third season of 'The Affair' and a new FX series called 'Trust', highlighted two traumatic experiences that made him see life in a different perspective.
Fraser was used to doing a lot of his own stunts, and as a consequence of this, he had to undergo several lengthy operations. For about 7 years, the actor was in and out of hospital for treatments like a partial knee replacement, various operations on his back and the repairing of his vocal chords. "I felt like the horse from Animal Farm, whose job it was to work and work and work... He worked for the good of the whole, he didn't ask questions, he didn't make trouble until it killed him", he told the magazine.
The other traumatic experience, adds Fraser's name to the long list of celebrities speaking out about historic abuse in the cinematic industry (think #MeToo and Time's Up). It's the first time Fraser's ever mentioned this experience in public, yet 15 years after the fact, he is still scarred by it. The actor revealed that the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (those in charge of the Golden Globes) touched him inappropriately at an event during the summer of 2003.
The ex-president, Philip Berk remembers the incident to which Fraser refers, although he is adamant he touched the actor's rear end as a joke and nothing more. Fraser remains sure that it was more than just that, "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", he recounted. The feelings of panic and terror would follow the actor for some time.
Fraser didn't make any big spectacle of what had happened to him at the time, saying he didn't want that to become part of his narrative. Despite that however, his lawyers attempted to get an apology out of Berk. "Am I still frightened? Absolutely. Do I feel like I need to say something? Absolutely. Have I wanted to many, many times? Absolutely. Have I stopped myself? Absolutely", he confessed. Taking this into account, it's no surprise how pleased Fraser is with the "wonderful movement" currently taking Hollywood by a storm. Actresses, Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino are each at the forefront of the movement, and Fraser, who has worked with each of them, refers to them as "friends".
Philip Berk denies Fraser's accusations, though wrote a letter to the latter explaining that it was his never his intention to do anything to upset the actor. Following the incident, Fraser no longer received invitations to the Golden Globes, and the actor believes it's because the organisation black listed him, something they have also denied.
A return to the set
The interview with GQ was primarily promotional for Danny Boyle's project 'Trust', a series for which Fraser has been filming in London. The series is set to focus on the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III by the Italian mafia, the very same story upon which Ridley Scott's 'All the Money in the World' is based. Fraser is to share the screen with Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank.
