The Return of Brendan Fraser: Facts You Need to Know About Him Before ‘The Whale’ (2/3)

Injuries, Sexual Assault and the Bottom of Life of Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser had a real shining life during The Mummy period, he was an international superstar until his 30s. The turning point with bad luck found him. In 2008 Brendan released three commercial movies -- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Inkheart.

However, Fraser did not usher in a new career boom in this year, but encountered an unprecedented low bottom.

The place of story The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was changed from Egypt to ancient China, with Fraser reprising his role as Rick O 'Connell and Chinese actors including Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Isabella Leong and Jing Wu joining the cast.

Although the movie still grossed $400 million worldwide, the Western perspective of the entire movie featured with Chinese elements to an awkward effect, and the movie critical reception was miserable.

This later led Universal Pictures to abandon the Mummy franchise outright, rebooting The Mummy starring Tom Cruise in 2017.

But the Tom Cruise version of The Mummy was also a critical flop, resulting in a $95 million loss for Universal and the demise of the "Dark Monster Universe."

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" was one of the trendsetting 3D movies of the year. The first movie was a hit, grossing $244 million worldwide, and by all rights, the sequel should have gone to him. But when Eric Brevig, the director of the first movie, was replaced by the studio for the sequel. As a good friend of the director, Fraser also broke up with the studio. Finally, the protagonist of the sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, was Dwayne Johnson. Johnson’s debut on big screen was Brendan's The Mummy Returns.

After that, in 2008, Brendan Fraser was in terrible physical condition, plagued by injuries from years of high-intensity action scenes.

On The set of The Mummy 3, Fraser insisted on not using his action double as much as possible. As a consequence, Fraser even required ice to taped around his body. He spent seven years in and out of the hospital, having surgery that included knee replacement surgery, a laminectomy and surgery to repair his vocal cords.

What’s more, Fraser was hit in the back by a tree during a hurricane that hit the east coast in 2012.

For a long time, he had to walk with a cane, which meant it was difficult for him to make strenuous physical movements. It's a fatal loss for an action actor.

What's even more shocking is that in 2018, Brendan Fraser gave an interview in which he opened up about a psychological shadow that had haunted him for years. In the summer of 2003, he was sexually harassed by Philip Burke, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Golden Globes.

Brendan Fraser recalled Burke was like, groping his buttocks and putting hand down to his pants, touching around.

"I was scared and wronged. I felt like a little child. I felt like I had a ball in my throat and I thought I was going to cry."

Instead of calling the police, Fraser swallowed his pride and left the party, something that stuck with him. Though years later Fraser plucked up the courage to file a complaint with the Golden Globes Association, which resulted in a toned-down apology from Philip Burke, but Burke avoided the gravity of his actions. Since 2003, Brendan hasn't received a Golden Globe invitation in years. Ironically, Burke wasn't expelled from the association until 2021 for discrimination against blacks, but not for sexual harassment.

It Never Rains but It Pours

After all the bad luck Brendan Fraser through, his wife Afton Smith filed for divorce in 2007, leaving Fraser with being paid up to $900,000 a year in alimony.

In 2013, Brendan went through another round of divorce battles and even ended up in court. He asked the judge to reduce the high alimony, but his ex-wife insisted that he hide his assets and stood firm.

As time went by, the former heroic-handsome-cute-superstar began to be abandoned by Hollywood.

His out-of-control appearance and shape of body, and his physical and mental imbalance, all led him into a career slump that was difficult to climb out of.