Brendan Fraser Thought His Best Actor Oscars Win Was a Mistake: “Heard my name & I thought ‘that can’t be right’”
Brendan Fraser has made history. The man has risen like a phoenix from the ashes, and his acting comeback bagged him nothing short of the most prestigious acting award out there. The 54-year-old actor had the prime of his career in the late 90s and early 2000s when he starred in films like George of the Jungle and The Mummy franchise. And soon after his trajectory hit a downward curve when he was reportedly blacklisted for accusing a Hollywood Executive of sexual assault. His divorce from Afton Smith also took quite a toll on him both mentally and financially. It seemed like Fraser’s career had wrapped up with him being remembered as ‘that guy from The Mummy’.
But that was far from the case, as we know very well now.
Brendan Fraser makes history at the 95th Academy Awards
Brendan Fraser‘s win for The Whale at the 95th Academy Award is one of the most memorable moments from the prestigious award night. After all, how often do you see an actor make a comeback to Hollywood after two decades and bag an Oscar right away? There’s a struggle behind that story but the world shall remember it as a great victory.
His award acceptance speech was just as much of a tearjerker as well. He was quite emotional as he expressed gratitude for the close people in his life and especially the director of the film Darren Aronofsky for giving him a “creative lifeline”. He explained the struggle,
“I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me”.
The trauma of an assault is no small deal and to brave through alienation only for coming forward with allegations just adds to the horror. It was in 2003 that the Bedazzled actor claimed that the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Philip Berk touched him inappropriately without his consent thus scarring him psychologically for a long time. It became hard for him to even appear before an audience, and was thus forced into an unfair hiatus from Hollywood.
Brendan Fraser’s first reaction to winning the Oscar
As any humble and talented soul, the Blast from the Past actor gave his all for the role in The Whale but was not expecting such an overwhelming return in fate. His first response to winning the Oscar was surprise and disbelief. He later shared his reaction to his name being announced as the winner,
“I heard my name and thought ‘that can’t be right’ but it was, so I guess I should get up there & say something quick… Thank you to all of my internet friends who’ve been so generous. I hope that I live up to this.”
“I heard my name & I thought ‘that can’t be right’ but it was, so I guess I should get up there & say something quick… Thank you to all of my internet friends who’ve been so generous. I hope that I live up to this”
– Brendan Fraser
See the winners list: https://t.co/b3EnMWMShb pic.twitter.com/JeR0GhYrol
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 13, 2023
Fans have been balling their heart and eyes out both at Fraser’s win and at the fact that he called his fans, his “internet friends”. Goes a long way to suggest what a pure heart he’s got.
Source: Twitter
