If one thought about the repercussions of one horrible day turning into a lifetime of overcoming depression and a nightmarish career, one need not look further than Brendan Fraser.
It is often when pondering on the impossibility of his situation and the absolutes that put him there that people stop to wonder about the extent of control that trauma has on one’s psyche.
But The Mummy actor is no longer letting his past dictate his life and regaining control of his narrative might be the best thing to have happened in the entirety of the past year.
Brendan Fraser Receives Best Actor For Comeback Film
What better way to make a comeback statement than snatching up the Best Actor Award at the Critics Choice? Every eye turns to look at the man who suddenly vanished from the public gaze almost two decades ago and has remained that way until recently. Just as he makes his appearances more public, the massive outpouring of love for Brendan Fraser grows in leaps and bounds, extending beyond the borders marked by his humility and talent.
For his part in the Darren Aronofsky film, The Whale, Fraser deservingly takes up the top spot among honors parried away at this year’s Critics Choice ceremony. The School Ties actor stars in the film as a grotesquely obese gay man seeking redemption by attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink). The Whale marks Fraser’s comeback into mainstream cinema after spending almost two decades on the sidelines.
Ke Huy Quan, the child actor who began to manifest his Hollywood dream by starring opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, also starred beside the industry’s blue-eyed boy, Brendan Fraser, in Encino Man (1992) for a handful of scenes. But that was enough time for Fraser to bond with his young co-star, one who would then deliver a showstopping comeback 30 years later with his role in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
When the two actors met on The Hollywood Reporter’s Actor Roundtable, a few tears were shed in the nostalgia that was created when Ke Huy Quan didn’t hold back in acknowledging the greatness and humility contained within Brendan Fraser. The love and admiration extended further when the former ran up to the latter even amid a room full of Hollywood A-listers to hug Fraser, shake his hand, and say congratulations.
In the ensuing celebrations after the Best Actor Award, this moment absolutely took the cake – even beyond Brendan Fraser’s heart-breaking acceptance speech had wrung tears and a standing ovation from the audience present. And it felt wonderful to witness the two actors finding a second chance at their dream and still standing unbeaten and unmarred by the corruption of the industry around them.
