After the back-to-back hit movies Brendan Fraser starred in during the 90s and 2000s, we thought we'd see a lot more from the actor. His career seemed to be going really well, his successes in action films like The Mummy trilogy and Journey to the Center of the Earth, made us think we'd see him in other great action films, but from then on, he sort of fell off the face of the Earth.
After around 2010, Fraser started taking on less acting roles, starring in lesser-known films, and having a couple recurring roles in television shows. Fraser's absence was starting to become obvious to Hollywood, and there are a couple of reasons why.
According to a profile about Fraser written by GQ in 2018, Fraser explained that one of the reasons he receded into the sidelines was because of chronic pain from all the stunts he'd done in his films. "By the time I did the third Mummy picture in China, I was put together with tape and ice—just, like, really nerdy and fetishy about ice packs," the actor explained. "Screw-cap ice packs and downhill-mountain-biking pads, 'cause they're small and light and they can fit under your clothes. I was building an exoskeleton for myself daily."
After that, Fraser was in and out of many surgeries for years. "I needed a laminectomy. And the lumbar didn't take, so they had to do it again a year later." He wound up having a partial knee replacement and many surgeries on his back. So he couldn't really do the action films he was used to.
On the other hand, Fraser also revealed he believed his career took a hit during the time he revealed he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood executive. The alleged altercation happened in 2003 at a luncheon the Golden Globe organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association threw. When Fraser was leaving the Beverly Hill's Hotel, he ran into Philip Berk, an ex-president of the HFPA, who shook his hand. What happened during that handshake, and which has been talked about in The New York Times, and in Berk's own memoir, was that Berk pinched Fraser's butt. Berk says it was not meant to be taken seriously, but according to Fraser it happened a little differently.
"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," Fraser told GQ, continuing to say he was able to remove Berk's hand. "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," Fraser continued.
Berk says Fraser's version of the story is complete nonsense, but after it happened Fraser became really upset by it. He kept it quiet for fear it would damage his career and "narrative," but it never left his memory, and it came to have a negative impact on his mental health. "I was blaming myself, and I was miserable—because I was saying, 'This is nothing; this guy reached around, and he copped a feel.' That summer wore on—and I can't remember what I went on to work on next."
Ultimately this is truly what made him turn his back on Hollywood, and he said it, "made me retreat. It made me feel reclusive... I don't know if this curried disfavor with the group, with the HFPA. But the silence was deafening."
When he was getting no more invitations to the Golden Globes, and felt like he was being blacklisted for something he didn't do, his work started to decline, and he was no longer willing to act as much. He said work "withered on the vine for me. In my mind, at least, something had been taken away from me."
As he watched the #MeToo Movement, and how countless actresses were being brave about coming out with their allegations, Fraser thought they were way braver than he ever was about his alleged assault. But even as allegations were pouring in and Hollywood has since become intolerant to assault, Fraser still feels scared about the situation. "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."
While Fraser is now used to the quiet life he has built himself, he does still act, you just won't see him on any major movie posters, jumping through fire and being the hero. It is kinda sad he isn't able to do those types of movies anymore, but at least he hasn't completely disappeared.