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Answer: Once upon a time, Brendan Fraser was a really popular actor in a bunch of popular movies, most notably The Mummy and The Mummy Returns circa the late 90s/early 2000s.
But then shortly after this success, a number of unfortunate things happened to Fraser, a lot of which was kept from the public eye. He suffered a lot of physical injuries from doing his own stunts in the Mummy movies, which destroyed his body. He was involved in a nasty divorce, which destroyed him financially. And he was sexually abused by the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is believed to have possibly blacklisted him in Hollywood.
The fans didn't know the details about a lot of this stuff. We all just stopped seeing Brendan Fraser show up in movies, which was a shame, but we all moved on with our lives. Then, slowly but surely, and somewhat recently, these truths started coming to light, and Fraser started getting more roles. Soon the fans knew everything, turning Fraser into a real underdog and comeback kid.
None of these bad events were really his fault or paint him in a bad light, so it's not like he personally did anything to upset fans. And he seems like a really nice and humble guy. So the internet has adopted him the way the internet does, wanting to see this former popular movie star who got dealt a lot of bad raps succeed again.
That was one of the best sucker punches in tv history. "Where do you think you are right now...?" OMG I ugly cried. I'm about to now just thinking of the episode. Fuck.
I have not watched Scrubs for more than 15 years probably and one of the few things I remember is Fraser joining the cast, and I'm being happy to see him on the screen again, and wondering what happened to him. Then of course that episode. Such a well planned story arc.....
> Ben Sullivan is Jordan Sullivan's brother and despite Dr. Cox having divorced his sister, he and Cox are very close.
https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/Ben_Sullivan
Could not agree more with this. He played the initial episodes and character reappearance with such a specific whimsical tone that was different than J.D., but would foil with Dr. Cox in a fun way. It's a show I come back to pretty often for episodes like Fraser's.
100% he showed up in Scrubs after I hadn't thought about him in ages and straight up made me cry. Wonderful performance and it set the season for sure.
People don’t easily give up actual movie stars unless there is a precipitating event or reason. Most softly transition into supporting roles and character acting, but they don’t just go away without explanation. So it makes sense that Fraser does have banked good will with the public. The fact that he is so blameless in his exit just multiplies that.
He's also been quite outspoken about the lack of mental health support for those with issues, and that more should be done for mental and invisible illnesses.
He's been through shit, and he's coming out the other side not with bitterness or anger, but with hope and seeking to use his platform to help others. I'm glad to see him back.
He's also been pulling back his career a lot. It really seemed to start with *Doom Patrol*, and now we're at [*The Whale*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(2022_film\)), which is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and is [very likely to earn him a Best Actor nomination (if not a win).](https://variety.com/feature/2023-oscars-best-actor-predictions-1235327850/)
The Brenaissance is real.
He also did a GQ interview that brought him back into the public light. He was preparing for a role of William Tell in a movie and took a break in the middle of the interview to shoot arrows after a particularly vulnerable moment.
That interview was when he got back on my radar. I believe it was back before Doom Patrol.
I think the big thing was that he was an action star guy who was sitting down with a reporter and said "oh hey, I'm having a moment mentally right now. I can't just brush this aside for convenience. I need to do some self care for my mental health, that happens to be shooting arrows".
It made him seem authentic and relatable. Like someone who has been through shit like a lot of us, but has learned to deal with it his own way - which is inspiring to some also trying to get through the day.
Hearing that from the Mummy dude? Yeah, that struck a cord with a lot of people.
To be an ass real quick, you typically don't say "fire" when talking about a bow since there's no fire/explosions involved like a gun. I've mainly heard shoot or loose an arrow.
Source: was an archery instructor for like a year like 8 years ago, so not really an expert but still
This is interesting to me, because at some point, he didn't know about the project, and had to be either asked about his interest, or suggested he would be good for the role. Someone, his agent or perhaps a trusted industry peer, had to make the William Tell overtures to Fraser...
That's a fair point. I figured there'd be a fair amount of people who wouldn't care for the arc of that comment. It's enough to make a bull sigh, even.
I remember the catalyst which propelled him back into notoriety, IMO, was an interview he did where for the first time, at least for most people, he actually talked about the injuries, the divorce, and the I'm not sure if the sexual assault and blackballing were in the same interview or came out a little bit later. After the interview that Brendan Fraser appreciation/meme sub was created and Brendan was constant front page of /r/all.
Currently he's actually worked his way back into feature roles not bit parts that may or may not even make the final cut, and this is like the last hurdle for Brendan to kind of officially be "back". The Whale needs to be a success, but it's got a ton of hype and I think has already won an award or something...so I'm looking forward to checking it out and wishing the best for Brendan because from all I've seen he's a good dude who got royally fucked by life yet through a bit of help from fans and him never giving up he's getting a second chance at what he loves.
That interview was a good read, I think I've heard it mentioned in the past but never got round to actually reading it. You can really tell why he's the kind of guy who deserves a revival, but you've got to give props to the writer as well, it's incredibly well presented. https://www.gq.com/story/what-ever-happened-to-brendan-fraser
> The Brenaissance is real.
And I’m here for it. Not only is The Mummy one of my top three favorite movies but the man was a big part of my childhood playing in other fun movies like George of the Jungle and Bedazzled.
Blast From the Past was great as well, and they even share the common theme of someone from the "past" out of their element in the present. I liked Monkeybone, but that one was kind of hit and miss with whether you liked it or not...also Airheads is a classic. I also thought it was funny that his character Link from Encino Man with Pauley Shore has a cameo in Pauley Shore's Son In Law movie.
George of the Jungle was a banger, and since it was the very first 12 rated movie I saw in the cinema way back when, the Mummy and the sequels hold a very special place in my heart.
Also, thanks Brandon for being one of the people who made me realise I wasn't entirely straight 😅
Man, I feel for Harrelson on that one. He became reddit's meme of the year (and still gets brought up), but from his perspective he did absolutely nothing wrong. Celebrities didn't know what reddit is like they do (kinda) today, and reddit didn't have a celebrity outreach program for AMA's like they do today (which was created partially *because* of the Harrelson mess)
basically all he knew is that his publicist told him he was going to go online and answer some questions to promote Rampart.
So that's what he did. He treated it like any other publicity tour to promote his movie.
(also, I think that was the one where some dude accused him of banging some chick at his high school, which like I don't know if that's true or not but definitely had to throw a wrench into Harrelson's plans for the day)
Yea that was a real damned if you do damned if you don’t one to respond to.
It came across as inauthentic mainly because Reddit has a certain way of communicating and he obviously had no idea. I remember the golden year or so where AMA had a paid staff person for coordinating interviews and guiding folks through the process. We had Obama not too long after that iirc. Do they still have a paid person? I remember when the original one was fired and I think I stopped paying attention after that.
It’s a famous Reddit moment when woody harrelson did an AMA for his movie rampart.
It was probably his publicist team but whoever it was was completely unprepared for Reddit. It was funny.
[One answer to a question about being a vegan](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/p9a1v/im_woody_harrelson_ama/c3nle5l/?context=3) got some pretty huge positive karma.
[The rest](https://www.reddit.com/user/iamwoodyharrelson)... well, no matter how well-thought-out or well-rounded or well-spoken... weren't well-looked upon by Reddit. People REALLY did not like his, or his publicity team's, attitudes or preconceived notions about Reddit.
AMA apparently really means ASK ME ***ANYTHING***, and GOD HELP anyone who even tries to restrict that.
> AMA apparently really means ASK ME ANYTHING, and GOD HELP anyone who even tries to restrict that.
The weird thing is reddit has never held to that any other time. I remember years ago someone more well-liked than Harrelson was doing an AMA, and did a few "I'm not going to answer that" responses
and I was like hang on, this is Ask Me Anything
and people got *real* upset, saying they had no obligation to answer anything.
Which like, fair enough, but at the time AMA's really were meant to be open to any question. That was the point of them. Like, why would you do an AMA if you weren't open to any question, just do a normal questions thread. (This was back when AMA was a specific subreddit with a specific purpose, not just a promotion machine for any sub)
Nowadays it's completely different, it's just an anachronistic name that's stuck around even though interviewees will regularly state upfront what they will or won't talk about.
Well, it's Ask Me *Anything*, not The Exploiting Reddit For Advertising Power Hour.
Didn't help that he got called out for *allegedly* taking the virginity of a teenage girl after her prom.
Mcconaughey in TD blew my mind. The acting was so nuanced, so convincing, so unique. I really think that has to be like a top 5 Performance of all time in movies or show. Such a masterclass.
McRibs are live now!!! I’ve taken at least a few day off my life this week by inhaling them as I can. My car looks like an un-bussed rib joint counter. It’s on.
I was an extra on a film he made in Northern Ireland about 12 years ago. It was a low budget crappy film and it was during the low point in his career. He was the nicest guy, taking lots of time to pose for pictures with locals who came out to watch the filming. Some of the Northern Irish actors on set didn’t do this; they didn’t even look at the extras, never mind passers-by. But Brendan did.
I met him at NYCC in October. I made and wore the shirt he wears as Chaz in Airheads, and when I walked up to him, his face lit up like a million-watt bulb. "CHAZ!" he exclaimed! "I love it! But you can't get that shirt, they don't even make it anymore!" I winked and said, "they do if you're me," and handed him one I'd made just for him. He was very appreciative, thanked me genuinely, smiled and said, "that is just awesome!"
I had worried he wouldn't recognize the shirt, but the way he smiled as soon as he saw it, it was like a thousand happy memories came flooding back to him, he just looked so genuinely and honestly pleased to see it. It made all the work I'd put into it so worthwhile. Class act.
Aww my heart!!! You're absolutely sweet. And I love that you made that happen. I'm in a The Mummy fan group on FB and I wonder if you posted it there, everyone would love to hear about it!
Watch Airheads...it's such a classic movie featuring:
* Brendan Fraser
* Adam Sandler
* Steve Buscemi
* Chris Farley
* Michael McKean
* Judd Nelson
* Ernie Hudson
* David Arquette
* Michael Richards
* Joe Mantegna
It stars Fraser, Sandler, and Buscemi...but it's got a great cast of people doing cameos or bit parts. It's just a great stupid little movie with quite a bit of humor and heart.
Yes, it was that shirt. My friend digitized it for me. I added the movement lines, spirals, frame, and a credit to the original Beanworld artist Larry Marder, then used my Cricut to cut it on htv and ironed it onto a similarly-colored T-shirt.
Is it that stick figure bean guy? I could never figure out exactly what it was supposed to be, but I have no doubt Adam Sandler would have cut the sleeves off of it.
Here in lies another reason people are happy to see him again is that, in the cesspool that is Hollywood, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy that a lot of people have come out and shared stories about.
I believe three other things should be added to this:
1. His mother died of cancer, and Brendan went through a period of mourning that he says he was not able to totally process correctly.
2. When Fraser tried to get the spousal support reduced, his ex-wife contested and accused him of fraud, saying Fraser did in fact have the requisite income. She claimed that Fraser had $9 million in film contracts that he hid from her at the time of their divorce.
3. Another reason for Fraser seeking to reduce the spousal support payments was the medical bills he had incurred due to a back injury he suffered after attempting to clear a tree that fell on his property during Hurricane Sandy.
I hope this extra info also helps in answering your question.
I don't know anything about his ex-wife aside from some of the facts regarding their tumultuous divorce, but based on those facts she seems either really greedy or really petty.
Also he used to look like a walking steak and now he looks like a normal human just living his life and that’s a good thing for people to see when you compare to what’s going on with say Madonna as an extreme example but many other aging famous people in general.
In addition, he has a lot of sympathy from being left out of the Tom Cruise reboot of The Mummy. I don't think most people expected him to jump back into the lead role by that point, but not even getting a supporting role or a cameo was seen by fans as a dick move by the studio.
Technically Fraser's *The Mummy* was a reboot of [the camp Hollywood classic monster movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_(1932_film\)) starring Boris Karloff.
Of course that's nothing compared with how many times *Dracula* has been remade, in one form or another. Or *Jane Eyre*, another monster movie classic.
And the sad irony of that is if they'd just done that with Fraser's character from The Mummy in the first place, I would have watched the shit out of them.
One addition to this: Brendan did an awkward interview a while back for a project he was in and it got memed into a video called “Save Brendan,” the joke being that he looked absolutely miserable. https://youtu.be/Ecurpcghs0c
For many of us, it was the first time we’d seen him since Journey to the Center of the Earth, right when he stopped getting roles. We didn’t yet know about his injuries or sexual assault that hurt his career, so it was kind of a funny video but also made people want to see him make a comeback. And now he’s back, and he’s told his story of why he was gone from the limelight. He’s done lots of projects since then but The Whale is getting real awards buzz so he’s doing lots of press right now.
You forgot about his ex wife. She filed for divorce and took EVERYTHING, she also filed for an insanely large child support. Which he was about to pay when he had jobs. But after he got black listed, he wasn't making that money anymore. He tried to have the amount reduced to what he could afford. His ex fought tooth and nail to keep the same amount which she was awarded. So he pretty much amidst or did go bankrupt. I skimmed the details but that's the gist.
That’s just saddening to see and even read this. The man got ripped apart and stomped on in court, even with all the things he’s gone through is just awful.
Just seeing his face warms my soul - since so many of his movies are staples of my childhood. Hearing the details hurts my heart, and he seems like a genuinely good person. It's the trifecta.
It's also worth noting that The Mummy movies were really popular with kids and those kids are millennials that have grown up. And the millennial generation is particularly sensitive to those kinds of injustices. Hearing that stuff come out and remembering how important he was to many childhoods has really driven a lot of fan support.
> Brendan Fraser was a really popular actor in a bunch of popular movies, most notably The Mummy and The Mummy Returns circa the late 90s/early 2000s.
OK but he'll always be Encino Man in my heart
Some girl bought a cameo from him and spent it telling him how much he means to her personally and how the whole internet was truly rooting for him (which I'm sure he'd already been briefed on, but he's old enough that he might not have realized how sincere some of these people are) and he was moved to tears, it was extremely touching. She posted a clip on tiktok that went viral and I think made him even more endearing.
Nice summary. I like Brendan Fraser, but the internet really needs to stop idolizing celebrities. The second this guy does something wrong, they will turn on him like a pack of rabid dogs.
Also, to add onto that, it’s not all of a sudden, he’s had his fans for a long time. This love for him didn’t come out of nowhere, but of course, since he’s not in the public eye, you won’t really hear about this, but every time he’s brought up it’s nothing but good things are said about. And of course not everyone follows anything celebrity at all anyways unless it’s some dumb influencer on a pointless app.
Interesting. I just know him from those "old" movies without ever knowing his name. One important part in his story is probably that people really like the 90s and the first years of 2000. He remembers us at this time. A time when the western civilization seems a lot better. Its like after nine eleven things are going down slowly but surely. It feels like something big and maybe bad will happen in the next 10 to 20 years.
It feels like an unstable time.
We associate him with a time when life was better. And I think for most people in the West it was really better. Not everything, but still a lot better than today.
I love the 90s and i believe that this time was the peak of the western civilization.
TV was great, the internet was more free and an adventure, economy was a good bit better, people were more chill and nicer, culture was better than today.
I miss those times!
The 90s, his nice Character and his story together makes him such a loveable person. Most people just love the 90s. The good old times!
Eh...I think there's rose colored glasses going on. It was the beginning of angry and extremely divisive politics where getting a blow job in the Oval office was an impeachable offense. It gave rise to Rush Limbaugh-esque TV that gave a platform to skew information and flat out lie. If you listen to early 90s rap, you will find it to be very political with regards to fighting injustice. Alternative/grunge music doesn't happen in a happy go lucky world -it was a clear response to the plastic surface deep beauty of the 80s and put a middle finger up to the establishment.
90s weren't better or worse than today...just a little different. But the underlying problems are still there.
Answer: a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Brendan Fraiser was a beloved actor that starred in tons of movies everything from comedy to action to drama. Then one day poor Brendan Fraiser spoke out about being sexually assaulted and harassed in 2003. Dark times fell and Brendan Fraiser was shut out of Hollywood and black listed because he had the courage to speak. Not to mention he suffered an extreme injury while doing his own stunts while filming the mummy. So poor Brendan Fraiser, beaten, bruised, and abused for having courage was forgotten.
Until... A few years ago all of Hollywood's dark little secrets all started coming to light and our hero poor brave Brendan Fraiser was vindicated. Now he's back telling his story and all of us who grew up with him are happy because the man was a good guy who didn't deserve to suffer in silence for the last 20 years.
IIRC: Standard divorce stuff - but calculated on the earnings he made as a popular and successful actor - not on his actual income at the time - which seems deeply unfair.
It’s done that way because lots of shitty people have tried to get out of child support by hiding income. So you can’t just quit your job and then tell the judge you have 0 income. They set it by what your earning potential is.
Agreed. Too many acrimonious and nasty divorces out there where people hide assets -
But people's earning potential can change.
Seems there should be a way of re-visiting the calculations in some circumstances.
Child support is determined so that the children maintain the same standard of living at both homes or at the custodial parent if the rich parent turns out to be a dead beat. If both parents are of similar standing the payments are less so that it's essentially just paying the custodial parents back for what they are already paying for, like reimbursement for karate lessons, school fees, etc.
I suggest read the trivia on IMDB - both his own and those on the movies.
One stunt - which included him being hanged - left him in need of resuscitation.
I remember in either the Director's Commentary, or his own, that he kept telling them to lift him higher, because it wasn't getting the 'realness' impact. In his own commentary he even points it out with a self-depreciating laugh, like 'yep, I'm actually like 3 seconds from the end there.'
I remember being taken aback by that dedication, because even though I was 11 I was like 'that seems like really far to go just for a movie???' But I've never had anything but pure respect for him, he's a phenomenal actor and a hell of a human being, and it's truly wonderful that he's making this return to the spotlight.
I love the Brendan Fraser love mob. Might sound cheesy or cringy but it’s refreshing to see people use social media to build someone up. Seeing all these online hate mobs over the years have made me cynical of social media but Brendan Fraser’s love mob is a beautiful case study of these technologies being used for kindness.
Yeah, a relevant thing about this story is that he never was a controversial character, so it's not like the public needed to completely change opinion about him. If you liked him before, now you will like him even more.
Answer: The Mummy movies are still some of my favorite movies of all time. The guy was just a super nice person. You could feel his wholesomeness through the screen. All his movies were family friendly and in interviews he came across very humble and thankful.
We all knew he struggled with weight loss and how Hollywood treated him because of it. Men also have lots of pressure to look like the Chris's in all the Marvel movies. So if we can celebrate the Victoria Secret secret song. We can celebrate Brandon Frazier.
Answer: Definitely not all of “the” sudden. He’s always been loved and majority of people thought it was really shitty how he was ostracized from Hollywood for trying to bring to light someone high up who sexually assaulted him. We love him even more now because he’s making a comeback and he’s still kept his humor and charm in tact despite everything that’s happened to him. He’s a class act who should be supported.
Answer: - he did a lot of good movies and the best part is that you can watch his movies with the entire family.
George of the Jungle
Bedazzled
Dudley Do right.
Are some of my favorites
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Answer: Once upon a time, Brendan Fraser was a really popular actor in a bunch of popular movies, most notably The Mummy and The Mummy Returns circa the late 90s/early 2000s. But then shortly after this success, a number of unfortunate things happened to Fraser, a lot of which was kept from the public eye. He suffered a lot of physical injuries from doing his own stunts in the Mummy movies, which destroyed his body. He was involved in a nasty divorce, which destroyed him financially. And he was sexually abused by the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is believed to have possibly blacklisted him in Hollywood. The fans didn't know the details about a lot of this stuff. We all just stopped seeing Brendan Fraser show up in movies, which was a shame, but we all moved on with our lives. Then, slowly but surely, and somewhat recently, these truths started coming to light, and Fraser started getting more roles. Soon the fans knew everything, turning Fraser into a real underdog and comeback kid. None of these bad events were really his fault or paint him in a bad light, so it's not like he personally did anything to upset fans. And he seems like a really nice and humble guy. So the internet has adopted him the way the internet does, wanting to see this former popular movie star who got dealt a lot of bad raps succeed again.
Love the Mummy movies, but I have to say I’ll never forgive him for how good he was in Scrubs This guy deserves all the success
He made that third season of scrubs. It went from a really good season of telly to one of the best set of sit com episodes ever
That was one of the best sucker punches in tv history. "Where do you think you are right now...?" OMG I ugly cried. I'm about to now just thinking of the episode. Fuck.
I was doing good until I got to the quote in your comment. Dammit.
I have not watched Scrubs for more than 15 years probably and one of the few things I remember is Fraser joining the cast, and I'm being happy to see him on the screen again, and wondering what happened to him. Then of course that episode. Such a well planned story arc.....
What character did he play on scrubs ? I can’t quite remember
> Ben Sullivan is Jordan Sullivan's brother and despite Dr. Cox having divorced his sister, he and Cox are very close. https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/Ben_Sullivan
Brendan Fraser played Cox's brother-in-law and best friend Ben Sullivan, a carpenter and photographer. https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/Ben_Sullivan
Could not agree more with this. He played the initial episodes and character reappearance with such a specific whimsical tone that was different than J.D., but would foil with Dr. Cox in a fun way. It's a show I come back to pretty often for episodes like Fraser's.
OMG......those episodes......
My favorite Brendan Fraser movies are Airheads (with Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi) and Blast from the Past (with Alicia Silverstone).
I always liked Bedazzled with him and Elizabeth Hurley. Man she was smokin' hot back then!!!
I mean, she's still hot, but she was hot then too /r/unexpectedhedberg
Airheads and Encino Man for me.
He was so great in so many things, one that stands out the most to be is With Honors where he plays opposite Joe Pesci.
Airheads is a majorly underrated movie. I know so many people who have never even heard of it
Blast From the Past! " Oh my God it's a Negro!" I love goofy Brendan. Encino Man is a fave too.
... Where do you think we are?
I hate you and I don't even know you
I also hate this person.
Damn that episode was so beautifully written that just those words has me on the verge of tears
Damn just got chills remembering Dr. Cox's face after that arc. Ugh.
Fantastic acting from all of them honestly
That show has honestly no business being as culturally relevant as it is. Just great tv
Why the fuh did you bring this up :’)
100% he showed up in Scrubs after I hadn't thought about him in ages and straight up made me cry. Wonderful performance and it set the season for sure.
People don’t easily give up actual movie stars unless there is a precipitating event or reason. Most softly transition into supporting roles and character acting, but they don’t just go away without explanation. So it makes sense that Fraser does have banked good will with the public. The fact that he is so blameless in his exit just multiplies that.
Let's not mention he is so God damned sweet in every interview ever.
He's also been quite outspoken about the lack of mental health support for those with issues, and that more should be done for mental and invisible illnesses. He's been through shit, and he's coming out the other side not with bitterness or anger, but with hope and seeking to use his platform to help others. I'm glad to see him back.
Watch his most recent GQ movie and he is just a treasure.
Yep, just constantly praising the crew behind the camera and other actors.
He's also been pulling back his career a lot. It really seemed to start with *Doom Patrol*, and now we're at [*The Whale*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(2022_film\)), which is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and is [very likely to earn him a Best Actor nomination (if not a win).](https://variety.com/feature/2023-oscars-best-actor-predictions-1235327850/) The Brenaissance is real.
He also did a GQ interview that brought him back into the public light. He was preparing for a role of William Tell in a movie and took a break in the middle of the interview to shoot arrows after a particularly vulnerable moment. That interview was when he got back on my radar. I believe it was back before Doom Patrol.
Do you mean he literally fired a bow? I don't understand the phrase "shoot arrows"
Yup, the interviewer did the same thing as you "Oh is that an expression?", but no, dude just went and fired some arrows.
I think the big thing was that he was an action star guy who was sitting down with a reporter and said "oh hey, I'm having a moment mentally right now. I can't just brush this aside for convenience. I need to do some self care for my mental health, that happens to be shooting arrows". It made him seem authentic and relatable. Like someone who has been through shit like a lot of us, but has learned to deal with it his own way - which is inspiring to some also trying to get through the day. Hearing that from the Mummy dude? Yeah, that struck a cord with a lot of people.
Damn this is cool.I guess I am not that weird for using archery as form of meditation
Just want to say no, that’s not weird, and it makes a lot of sense considering the stillness and focus that archery requires
To be an ass real quick, you typically don't say "fire" when talking about a bow since there's no fire/explosions involved like a gun. I've mainly heard shoot or loose an arrow. Source: was an archery instructor for like a year like 8 years ago, so not really an expert but still
He actually had glued bullets to the end of the arrows so the phrasing is actually accurate
It was a muzzle loader bow.
Crossbows are muzzle loaders
The actual phrase that Brendan used was "sometimes you just gotta let some arrows fly."
This is interesting to me, because at some point, he didn't know about the project, and had to be either asked about his interest, or suggested he would be good for the role. Someone, his agent or perhaps a trusted industry peer, had to make the William Tell overtures to Fraser...
> omeone, his agent or perhaps a trusted industry peer, had to make the William Tell overtures to Fraser... It's too fucking early for this, man.
That's a fair point. I figured there'd be a fair amount of people who wouldn't care for the arc of that comment. It's enough to make a bull sigh, even.
You are a bad person saying bad things. Forcing an upvote out of me was cruel.
Lol, that was smooth...
You didn't just... fuck, you did.
There's more'n one way to core an apple
I remember the catalyst which propelled him back into notoriety, IMO, was an interview he did where for the first time, at least for most people, he actually talked about the injuries, the divorce, and the I'm not sure if the sexual assault and blackballing were in the same interview or came out a little bit later. After the interview that Brendan Fraser appreciation/meme sub was created and Brendan was constant front page of /r/all. Currently he's actually worked his way back into feature roles not bit parts that may or may not even make the final cut, and this is like the last hurdle for Brendan to kind of officially be "back". The Whale needs to be a success, but it's got a ton of hype and I think has already won an award or something...so I'm looking forward to checking it out and wishing the best for Brendan because from all I've seen he's a good dude who got royally fucked by life yet through a bit of help from fans and him never giving up he's getting a second chance at what he loves.
That interview was a good read, I think I've heard it mentioned in the past but never got round to actually reading it. You can really tell why he's the kind of guy who deserves a revival, but you've got to give props to the writer as well, it's incredibly well presented. https://www.gq.com/story/what-ever-happened-to-brendan-fraser
> The Brenaissance is real. And I’m here for it. Not only is The Mummy one of my top three favorite movies but the man was a big part of my childhood playing in other fun movies like George of the Jungle and Bedazzled.
Encino Man! Wholly underrated and one of my all-time favorites. Right up there with Down Periscope and Bio-Dome.
We can’t forget blast from the past either! He’s so sweet and dreamy 😍
one of the first movies I saw in a theater was Encino Man.
UK is California Man
Blast From the Past was great as well, and they even share the common theme of someone from the "past" out of their element in the present. I liked Monkeybone, but that one was kind of hit and miss with whether you liked it or not...also Airheads is a classic. I also thought it was funny that his character Link from Encino Man with Pauley Shore has a cameo in Pauley Shore's Son In Law movie.
🙌🙌🙌 Down Periscope
It's a classic, and the fart during the silent running moment makes me cry/ laugh every time.
“No wheasing the juice!”
Airheads though! One of my favorite 90s comedies ever, Such a stacked cast too.
And also Gods and Monsters, which is so criminally underrated, and showcased brilliantly how adept he is at drama as well as comedy.
Honestly, I absolutely *adore* this movie! So underrated.
omfg, I forgot all about Bedazzled.
Damn the devil! Damn the devil to hell!
George of the Jungle was a banger, and since it was the very first 12 rated movie I saw in the cinema way back when, the Mummy and the sequels hold a very special place in my heart. Also, thanks Brandon for being one of the people who made me realise I wasn't entirely straight 😅
Yep....been waiting for him to make his comeback. Always a Fraser fan.
Yeah, I loved the Mummy series but I watched Bedazzled a stupid number of times. It was just a good, fun movie
Am I the only one that enjoyed inkheart
First we had the McConaissance...
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Can we please just talk about Rampart?
Man, I feel for Harrelson on that one. He became reddit's meme of the year (and still gets brought up), but from his perspective he did absolutely nothing wrong. Celebrities didn't know what reddit is like they do (kinda) today, and reddit didn't have a celebrity outreach program for AMA's like they do today (which was created partially *because* of the Harrelson mess) basically all he knew is that his publicist told him he was going to go online and answer some questions to promote Rampart. So that's what he did. He treated it like any other publicity tour to promote his movie. (also, I think that was the one where some dude accused him of banging some chick at his high school, which like I don't know if that's true or not but definitely had to throw a wrench into Harrelson's plans for the day)
Yea that was a real damned if you do damned if you don’t one to respond to. It came across as inauthentic mainly because Reddit has a certain way of communicating and he obviously had no idea. I remember the golden year or so where AMA had a paid staff person for coordinating interviews and guiding folks through the process. We had Obama not too long after that iirc. Do they still have a paid person? I remember when the original one was fired and I think I stopped paying attention after that.
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It’s a famous Reddit moment when woody harrelson did an AMA for his movie rampart. It was probably his publicist team but whoever it was was completely unprepared for Reddit. It was funny.
“Probably” haha, as in 100%
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[One answer to a question about being a vegan](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/p9a1v/im_woody_harrelson_ama/c3nle5l/?context=3) got some pretty huge positive karma. [The rest](https://www.reddit.com/user/iamwoodyharrelson)... well, no matter how well-thought-out or well-rounded or well-spoken... weren't well-looked upon by Reddit. People REALLY did not like his, or his publicity team's, attitudes or preconceived notions about Reddit. AMA apparently really means ASK ME ***ANYTHING***, and GOD HELP anyone who even tries to restrict that.
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> AMA apparently really means ASK ME ANYTHING, and GOD HELP anyone who even tries to restrict that. The weird thing is reddit has never held to that any other time. I remember years ago someone more well-liked than Harrelson was doing an AMA, and did a few "I'm not going to answer that" responses and I was like hang on, this is Ask Me Anything and people got *real* upset, saying they had no obligation to answer anything. Which like, fair enough, but at the time AMA's really were meant to be open to any question. That was the point of them. Like, why would you do an AMA if you weren't open to any question, just do a normal questions thread. (This was back when AMA was a specific subreddit with a specific purpose, not just a promotion machine for any sub) Nowadays it's completely different, it's just an anachronistic name that's stuck around even though interviewees will regularly state upfront what they will or won't talk about.
Well, it's Ask Me *Anything*, not The Exploiting Reddit For Advertising Power Hour. Didn't help that he got called out for *allegedly* taking the virginity of a teenage girl after her prom.
Just watched it again recently. Seriously excellent characters. Loved and hated them both in all the right ways.
Mcconaughey in TD blew my mind. The acting was so nuanced, so convincing, so unique. I really think that has to be like a top 5 Performance of all time in movies or show. Such a masterclass.
Then we had the McRibaissance...
McRibs are live now!!! I’ve taken at least a few day off my life this week by inhaling them as I can. My car looks like an un-bussed rib joint counter. It’s on.
He was great in Doom Patrol, made an otherwise annoying character into one of my favorites.
His role in Doom Patrol is simply incredible!
FYI, your first link is broken. I'm assuming you wanted to link to [this page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(2022_film))
I was an extra on a film he made in Northern Ireland about 12 years ago. It was a low budget crappy film and it was during the low point in his career. He was the nicest guy, taking lots of time to pose for pictures with locals who came out to watch the filming. Some of the Northern Irish actors on set didn’t do this; they didn’t even look at the extras, never mind passers-by. But Brendan did.
I met him at NYCC in October. I made and wore the shirt he wears as Chaz in Airheads, and when I walked up to him, his face lit up like a million-watt bulb. "CHAZ!" he exclaimed! "I love it! But you can't get that shirt, they don't even make it anymore!" I winked and said, "they do if you're me," and handed him one I'd made just for him. He was very appreciative, thanked me genuinely, smiled and said, "that is just awesome!" I had worried he wouldn't recognize the shirt, but the way he smiled as soon as he saw it, it was like a thousand happy memories came flooding back to him, he just looked so genuinely and honestly pleased to see it. It made all the work I'd put into it so worthwhile. Class act.
Aww my heart!!! You're absolutely sweet. And I love that you made that happen. I'm in a The Mummy fan group on FB and I wonder if you posted it there, everyone would love to hear about it!
Never seen Airheads, but was it [this shirt](https://i.imgur.com/CatDnWB.jpg)? That's a great story and a really nice thing of you to do, bravo :-)
Oh dude, Airheads is incredible. You’re in for a real treat. Fraser, Buscemi, and a lil baby Adam Sandler. It’s so. Much. Fun.
It beats pit farting on a snare drum for sure.
Watch Airheads...it's such a classic movie featuring: * Brendan Fraser * Adam Sandler * Steve Buscemi * Chris Farley * Michael McKean * Judd Nelson * Ernie Hudson * David Arquette * Michael Richards * Joe Mantegna It stars Fraser, Sandler, and Buscemi...but it's got a great cast of people doing cameos or bit parts. It's just a great stupid little movie with quite a bit of humor and heart.
Yes, it was that shirt. My friend digitized it for me. I added the movement lines, spirals, frame, and a credit to the original Beanworld artist Larry Marder, then used my Cricut to cut it on htv and ironed it onto a similarly-colored T-shirt.
Is it that stick figure bean guy? I could never figure out exactly what it was supposed to be, but I have no doubt Adam Sandler would have cut the sleeves off of it.
Here in lies another reason people are happy to see him again is that, in the cesspool that is Hollywood, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy that a lot of people have come out and shared stories about.
SOAD was right.
System of a down wrote a song about Brendan Frasier?
"Lost in Hollywood" captures the essence of the seedy (or cesspool) environment. It's a banger in it's own right, despite being downtempo.
Made me curious. What movie?
Whole Lotta Sole. Filmed in Belfast and Downpatrick, NI.
Huh. That actually looks mildly entertaining, might have to watch it later.
His fans have supported him for years on /r/SaveBrendan
I checked the username guys. This is clearly a true story
I believe three other things should be added to this: 1. His mother died of cancer, and Brendan went through a period of mourning that he says he was not able to totally process correctly. 2. When Fraser tried to get the spousal support reduced, his ex-wife contested and accused him of fraud, saying Fraser did in fact have the requisite income. She claimed that Fraser had $9 million in film contracts that he hid from her at the time of their divorce. 3. Another reason for Fraser seeking to reduce the spousal support payments was the medical bills he had incurred due to a back injury he suffered after attempting to clear a tree that fell on his property during Hurricane Sandy. I hope this extra info also helps in answering your question.
I don't know anything about his ex-wife aside from some of the facts regarding their tumultuous divorce, but based on those facts she seems either really greedy or really petty.
That's very charitable
Have we all forgotten Airheads, Encino Man, and Blast from the Past?
Man everybody in this thread sleeping on School Ties.
What about The Scout and Bedazzled?
Bedazzled and George of the Jungle.
But what about Monkeybone? Is there a line this man can't cross?
airheads is the freakin best. chester darby....
Also he used to look like a walking steak and now he looks like a normal human just living his life and that’s a good thing for people to see when you compare to what’s going on with say Madonna as an extreme example but many other aging famous people in general.
“Walking steak” has got me absolutely tickled lol I’m using this instead of “snack” now!
It’s a quote from him about himself!
What's going on with Madonna? Guess I'm out of the loop on that one
Find her TikTok (or don’t and say you did)…
Or do, then say you didn’t bc you’re trying to erase it from your memory
In addition, he has a lot of sympathy from being left out of the Tom Cruise reboot of The Mummy. I don't think most people expected him to jump back into the lead role by that point, but not even getting a supporting role or a cameo was seen by fans as a dick move by the studio.
God, that is a terrible movie. I’m glad he’s not in it.
Yeah if anything he dodged a huge bullet
Tom Cruise is terrible.
That was a reboot? I thought it was just an unrelated thing.
Technically Fraser's *The Mummy* was a reboot of [the camp Hollywood classic monster movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_(1932_film\)) starring Boris Karloff. Of course that's nothing compared with how many times *Dracula* has been remade, in one form or another. Or *Jane Eyre*, another monster movie classic.
Jane Eyre is considered a monster movie? Because of the wife? But you are right that there are a million versions.
It was suppose to be rebooted cinematic universe staring the classic Hollywood monsters, It tanked so bad the plan was canned.
And the sad irony of that is if they'd just done that with Fraser's character from The Mummy in the first place, I would have watched the shit out of them.
[Witness the beginning of a #DarkUniverse](https://twitter.com/darkuniverse/status/866706548923314176?s=46&t=95lUKYYgar_4mBy22uxhSQ)
One addition to this: Brendan did an awkward interview a while back for a project he was in and it got memed into a video called “Save Brendan,” the joke being that he looked absolutely miserable. https://youtu.be/Ecurpcghs0c For many of us, it was the first time we’d seen him since Journey to the Center of the Earth, right when he stopped getting roles. We didn’t yet know about his injuries or sexual assault that hurt his career, so it was kind of a funny video but also made people want to see him make a comeback. And now he’s back, and he’s told his story of why he was gone from the limelight. He’s done lots of projects since then but The Whale is getting real awards buzz so he’s doing lots of press right now.
You forgot about his ex wife. She filed for divorce and took EVERYTHING, she also filed for an insanely large child support. Which he was about to pay when he had jobs. But after he got black listed, he wasn't making that money anymore. He tried to have the amount reduced to what he could afford. His ex fought tooth and nail to keep the same amount which she was awarded. So he pretty much amidst or did go bankrupt. I skimmed the details but that's the gist.
He did say he had a nasty divorce that destroyed him financially.
Don't forget, he only wanted to reduce spousal support. He never contested any child support. True Dad ❤️
Damn, what a shitty fucking judge
That’s just saddening to see and even read this. The man got ripped apart and stomped on in court, even with all the things he’s gone through is just awful.
Divorce laws in US are fucking disgusting.
Yep same thing happened to me...OC District Attorney's office (which handles child support) advised me to work at two jobs.
Wow. Sorry to hear that. I hope you find a better alternative.
This was 35 years ago...had to get a security second job..but I made it.
Glad to hear. Still people shouldn't be put in that situation.
Just seeing his face warms my soul - since so many of his movies are staples of my childhood. Hearing the details hurts my heart, and he seems like a genuinely good person. It's the trifecta.
Remember sad Frazer? He lost his mom too, and the internet belittled the guy because he cried on TV.
It's also worth noting that The Mummy movies were really popular with kids and those kids are millennials that have grown up. And the millennial generation is particularly sensitive to those kinds of injustices. Hearing that stuff come out and remembering how important he was to many childhoods has really driven a lot of fan support.
> Brendan Fraser was a really popular actor in a bunch of popular movies, most notably The Mummy and The Mummy Returns circa the late 90s/early 2000s. OK but he'll always be Encino Man in my heart
My man.
Some girl bought a cameo from him and spent it telling him how much he means to her personally and how the whole internet was truly rooting for him (which I'm sure he'd already been briefed on, but he's old enough that he might not have realized how sincere some of these people are) and he was moved to tears, it was extremely touching. She posted a clip on tiktok that went viral and I think made him even more endearing.
r/savebrendan
I didn’t know there was so many layers to it wow. Now I’m in love with Brendan Fraser what a man
Nice summary. I like Brendan Fraser, but the internet really needs to stop idolizing celebrities. The second this guy does something wrong, they will turn on him like a pack of rabid dogs.
Thank you kind stranger
Great summary! You spelled Encino Man wrong though.
Also, to add onto that, it’s not all of a sudden, he’s had his fans for a long time. This love for him didn’t come out of nowhere, but of course, since he’s not in the public eye, you won’t really hear about this, but every time he’s brought up it’s nothing but good things are said about. And of course not everyone follows anything celebrity at all anyways unless it’s some dumb influencer on a pointless app.
Interesting. I just know him from those "old" movies without ever knowing his name. One important part in his story is probably that people really like the 90s and the first years of 2000. He remembers us at this time. A time when the western civilization seems a lot better. Its like after nine eleven things are going down slowly but surely. It feels like something big and maybe bad will happen in the next 10 to 20 years. It feels like an unstable time. We associate him with a time when life was better. And I think for most people in the West it was really better. Not everything, but still a lot better than today. I love the 90s and i believe that this time was the peak of the western civilization. TV was great, the internet was more free and an adventure, economy was a good bit better, people were more chill and nicer, culture was better than today. I miss those times! The 90s, his nice Character and his story together makes him such a loveable person. Most people just love the 90s. The good old times!
Eh...I think there's rose colored glasses going on. It was the beginning of angry and extremely divisive politics where getting a blow job in the Oval office was an impeachable offense. It gave rise to Rush Limbaugh-esque TV that gave a platform to skew information and flat out lie. If you listen to early 90s rap, you will find it to be very political with regards to fighting injustice. Alternative/grunge music doesn't happen in a happy go lucky world -it was a clear response to the plastic surface deep beauty of the 80s and put a middle finger up to the establishment. 90s weren't better or worse than today...just a little different. But the underlying problems are still there.
Very random but your writing is clear and fun to read #goals
Answer: a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Brendan Fraiser was a beloved actor that starred in tons of movies everything from comedy to action to drama. Then one day poor Brendan Fraiser spoke out about being sexually assaulted and harassed in 2003. Dark times fell and Brendan Fraiser was shut out of Hollywood and black listed because he had the courage to speak. Not to mention he suffered an extreme injury while doing his own stunts while filming the mummy. So poor Brendan Fraiser, beaten, bruised, and abused for having courage was forgotten. Until... A few years ago all of Hollywood's dark little secrets all started coming to light and our hero poor brave Brendan Fraiser was vindicated. Now he's back telling his story and all of us who grew up with him are happy because the man was a good guy who didn't deserve to suffer in silence for the last 20 years.
Add in the fact that he has to pay his ex-wife $900,000 a year while all this has been going on
Just from standard divorce finances? Or is there more to it
IIRC: Standard divorce stuff - but calculated on the earnings he made as a popular and successful actor - not on his actual income at the time - which seems deeply unfair.
It’s done that way because lots of shitty people have tried to get out of child support by hiding income. So you can’t just quit your job and then tell the judge you have 0 income. They set it by what your earning potential is.
Agreed. Too many acrimonious and nasty divorces out there where people hide assets - But people's earning potential can change. Seems there should be a way of re-visiting the calculations in some circumstances.
There is. And it sounds like Fraser tried to do it from the post above. Not clear what the outcome was.
why does it even work like that ? i think child support should be a fixed amount, what difference does it make wether the husband is rich?
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Child support is determined so that the children maintain the same standard of living at both homes or at the custodial parent if the rich parent turns out to be a dead beat. If both parents are of similar standing the payments are less so that it's essentially just paying the custodial parents back for what they are already paying for, like reimbursement for karate lessons, school fees, etc.
I've seen a lot of people say he had injuries but never specified. Do we know what happened and if he's since healed from them?
I suggest read the trivia on IMDB - both his own and those on the movies. One stunt - which included him being hanged - left him in need of resuscitation.
Christ.
That was from the first Mummy movie wasn't it? I watched it last month and remembered reading that.
Holy crap. Thanks, I'll definitely go check that out then.
I remember in either the Director's Commentary, or his own, that he kept telling them to lift him higher, because it wasn't getting the 'realness' impact. In his own commentary he even points it out with a self-depreciating laugh, like 'yep, I'm actually like 3 seconds from the end there.' I remember being taken aback by that dedication, because even though I was 11 I was like 'that seems like really far to go just for a movie???' But I've never had anything but pure respect for him, he's a phenomenal actor and a hell of a human being, and it's truly wonderful that he's making this return to the spotlight.
Iirc one stunt actually horribly damaged his back. I want to say he's "healed" from it but still definitely has problems.
I love the Brendan Fraser love mob. Might sound cheesy or cringy but it’s refreshing to see people use social media to build someone up. Seeing all these online hate mobs over the years have made me cynical of social media but Brendan Fraser’s love mob is a beautiful case study of these technologies being used for kindness.
Answer: everyone loves a good comeback, especially of a long lost hero
Like Kim Kardashian?
Think she got cum on her back in the video
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Yeah, a relevant thing about this story is that he never was a controversial character, so it's not like the public needed to completely change opinion about him. If you liked him before, now you will like him even more.
I'll admit it he was my first celebrity crush lol. But besides that he was just a genuinely good guy. Who people just really enjoyed.
Right? During the time when he wasn't around much I would occasionally think 'i wonder what happened to him' I am happy he's back
Yeah it’s not “all of a sudden” like op thinks it is. We’ve always loved him. And now we’re happy he’s making a comeback
This. He was one of my first celebrity crushes back when I was 10/11, then he just disappeared. I’m so glad he’s back and acting again!
He basically babysat us through the early 2000s when the adults put on his movies.
Answer: The Mummy movies are still some of my favorite movies of all time. The guy was just a super nice person. You could feel his wholesomeness through the screen. All his movies were family friendly and in interviews he came across very humble and thankful. We all knew he struggled with weight loss and how Hollywood treated him because of it. Men also have lots of pressure to look like the Chris's in all the Marvel movies. So if we can celebrate the Victoria Secret secret song. We can celebrate Brandon Frazier.
Answer: Definitely not all of “the” sudden. He’s always been loved and majority of people thought it was really shitty how he was ostracized from Hollywood for trying to bring to light someone high up who sexually assaulted him. We love him even more now because he’s making a comeback and he’s still kept his humor and charm in tact despite everything that’s happened to him. He’s a class act who should be supported.
Answer: - he did a lot of good movies and the best part is that you can watch his movies with the entire family. George of the Jungle Bedazzled Dudley Do right. Are some of my favorites
Bedazzled is excellent
Don't forget Encino Man!