Brendan Fraser, once a staple of 1990s Hollywood, has come forward with a painful truth about his inner life that persisted even through the highest moment of his career.
The 57-year-old actor, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2022 for The Whale, revealed in an interview with the Associated Press that despite the recognition, he continues to grapple with deep-seated self-doubt and insecurity.
Fraser’s admission comes after a decades-long journey marked by both global success and personal anguish.
The actor explained how not only did he feel like his personal life was falling apart at one point, but that everything he fought for professionally was being taken away from him.
Brendan Fraser shared an intimate fact about his inner life that remains with him more than two decades after his hit, The Mummy
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“I struggle with confidence. I always have the feeling of not being good enough,” he told AP on November 19.
His breakout as the shirtless, endearing jungle man in 1997’s George of the Jungle made him a household name.
By 1999, his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell in The Mummy turned him into an international superstar.
Image credits: Rich Polk/Getty Images
The 2000s welcomed him with hits like Bedazzled, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Quiet American, however, his career began to fade from public view as the decade closed.
Behind the scenes, Fraser was silently enduring a string of personal and professional setbacks that halted his momentum.
Fraser’s meteoric rise to fame was followed by an equally swift descent
Image credits: A24
First, his body gave out.
Years of doing physically demanding stunts left him battered. Between 2003 and 2010, Fraser underwent multiple surgeries: a partial knee replacement, a spine surgery, and vocal cord repairs, among others.
He described spending “seven years in and out of hospitals” as a result of the toll his action roles had taken.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
Second, his marriage collapsed.
Fraser and actress Afton Smith, whom he married in 1998, divorced in 2008. They share three sons.
The split became contentious, especially after the actor was ordered to pay $50,000 per month in alimony and an additional $25,000 per month in child support, totaling $900,000 per year.
As the actor‘s financial situation deteriorated, he found himself unable to deal with the burden. In 2013, he petitioned the court to reduce the payments because his income had fallen significantly.
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Third, he went public with an assault allegation.
In 2018, Fraser told GQ that in 2003 he was groped by Philip Berk, then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, at a luncheon in Beverly Hills. Fraser said the incident left him “panicked” and “ill.”
Berk denied the accusation but admitted in his memoir to pinching Fraser’s backside “in jest.”
Fraser said breaking his silence could’ve led to Hollywood closing doors for him.
The actor said that despite becoming a world-renowned star, he has always struggled with self-doubt
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His Oscar-winning comeback in The Whale marked a triumphant return.
In the role, Fraser played Charlie, a reclusive and obese English teacher attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter before his death. The performance drew critical acclaim and reignited public affection for the once-absent star.
Yet the self-doubt never left.
Image credits: Saturday Night Live
After The Whale, Fraser’s first major role was in the indie film Rental Family, directed by Hikari and shot in Tokyo. In Japan, Fraser found a needed respite. He stayed in Minato City, rode moving sidewalks, and even rented a hedgehog at a local café.
“It was personally what I needed. I wanted to remove myself from whatever this place is, just for a while,” he said.
He also passed time decorating a rubber deer for Thanksgiving archery with his kids and playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which he described as his “place to float around at the end of the day.”
Image credits: Montclair Film/Flickr
Now, after years of speculation, Fraser officially confirmed that he will return to the The Mummy franchise. He said this upcoming fourth film would be “the one [he] wanted to make,” and that he had been waiting “20 years for this call.”
According to film‑industry outlets, the new installment will be directed by the team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, with original co‑star Rachel Weisz reportedly in talks to return.
“One of the coolest.” Fraser’s fans celebrated his openness and vulnerability
