BRENDAN FRASER
IS BACK IN BUSINESS…
Early August was quite the time for Brendan Fraser. First it was announced that he had joined the cast of Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, and then a meet-and-greet interview with a fan on TikTok went viral.
“I’m going to work with Scorsese and Leo [DiCaprio] and Bob De Niro… I might be sick. I’m a little anxious,” he said, to which the fan chirped, “There are so many people out there who love you, and we’re rooting for you, and we can’t wait to see what you do next.” So moved was the 52-yearold actor, he visibly teared up and had to pause to sip his water before tipping his hat and saying, “Shucks, ma’am.”
If anyone was in any doubt before, there’s no arguing it now – the ‘Brenaissance’ is in full swing. After years of being out of the spotlight, still working but not in anything you might have heard of, the star who once lit up family adventures George Of The Jungle and The Mummy (plus its lesser sequels) as well as serious dramas Gods And Monsters and The Quiet American is now back back back.
First he gained traction as Cliff Steele/Robotman, the former NASCAR driver with a robotic body in HBO’s superhero series Doom Patrol, based on the DC comics, and then he starred with Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and Jon Hamm in Steven Soderbergh’s 1950s-set crime caper No Sudden Move. Also in post-production is Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, based on Samuel D. Hunter’s acclaimed play, in which he plays a gay, reclusive English teacher who is severely obese – aiming to eat himself to death, he now weighs 600lbs – and tries to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter as his health fails.
It’s hard to top a Soderbergh-Aronofsky doublepunch, but Scorsese’s latest, based on David Grann’s non-fiction book Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, promises to do just that, investigating a series of killings that plagued the Osage people after oil was discovered on their land. Fraser is playing lawyer W.S. Hamilton.
“Man, I got fucking old,” the actor said to GQ in 2018. Chances are he’s feeling revitalised now. JG
UK RELEASE DATES FOR NO SUDDEN MOVE, THE WHALE AND KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON ARE TBA.