Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser: biography

Brendan Fraser is a Hollywood movie actor, the leading character of the movies of Mummy franchise, of the melodrama Blast from the Past. After the release of the film George of the Jungle with Fraser in the leading role, the actor received the title of the sex symbol of the nineties.

Brendan Fraser was born on the 3rd of December, 1968 in Indianapolis, in the USA. He was the fourth son in the family of Peter and Carol Frasers. His father was working in the tourist sphere that’s why all the family traveled around the countries a lot and sometimes they had to live here during some time. Brendan managed to live in Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland - that’s without mentioning the fact that he visited almost all American states with his parents and brothers.

The fact that the guy had to move often from one country to another, that he faced different mentalities and different cultures didn’t prevent him from self-improvement and self-development. He is fluent not only in the American English but in the classical English and French languages as well.

In London he for the first time tried himself as a theatrical actor – Brendan was twelve years old at that time. But after the small parts in the performances, he became seriously engaged in these professions, and it lasted for a long time.

In a couple of years, the family of Frasers moved to Canada and Brendan entered the theatrical school in Toronto. Then, he studied in the Cornish College of Arts in Seattle where he got his basic knowledge which was enough to begin the acting career.

Movies

The actor played his first role in 1991. Not each beginning actor without experience has the luck to start his career with the leading role, but Brendan Fraser was lucky in this. It was the drama under the title My Old School the plot of which told about the youthful friendship. Few spectators saw this movie, but the directors said that this picture opened the future stars of cinematography – Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Brendan Fraser.

Brendan proved himself as a talented dramatic actor already from his first role in his biography, though the destiny was elsewhere. The same year 1991 the young man was invited to play a role in the comedy Dogfight. Probably, this movie defined his creative role. In 1992 Fraser got the part in the comedy Encino Man in which he appeared in the role of the person from the cave who found himself in the modern world. The critics gave negative feedback to this movie. However, the directors noticed the young talent and began to offer him comedy roles one by one.

Brendan has more than twenty roles like this in his filmography. Many characters performed by Brendan Fraser looked silly and ridiculously, but this was what the audience liked. Because of the hard-working schedule, Brendan Fraser sent the letter to the University of Texas that he wouldn’t study at them.

The actor, even more, showed his talent during the shootings of the comedy Airheads. The plot is concentrated on the story of the three rock musicians who are losers and faked the attack on the radio station. They try to make the DJ play their composition on the air, however, instead of this, he thinks that the musicians are terrorists. Then he took part in the shootings in other comedy projects, but they did not bring Fraser the desired popularity.

In 1997 the actor played one of the leading roles in the movie George of the Jungle – the modern version of Tarzan. He had to bulk up in the gym and let his hair grow long, but after the picture came out in the hire, he became famous overnight. Brendan has coped perfectly with the role of Tarzan though it was difficult to parody the popular hero who was embodied on the screen dozens of time. Fraser was so agile when flying from one liana on another and so convincingly in the dispute with the trained gorilla that the audience began to have the impression that the actor was living in the jungle.

Along with recognition, there came the disappointment – the actor understood that he already felt limited in the comedy genre and tried to escape from it by all means. He was successful as an actor in the shootings of the movie Gods and Monsters. Not only the audience liked the movie, the critics appreciated it as well. So, Brendan Fraser proved to himself and to the directors that he was a versatile actor. It was his first large-scale dramatic role in which Fraser demonstrated his natural charisma and charm. He calls this project the turning point in his destiny because after its release on the screens he gained the long-awaited popularity.

In 1999 there was released the melodrama Blast from the Past. In this movie, Fraser convincingly played the role of the inhabitant of the bomb shelter who was living in the dungeon since his birth and only at mature age decided to go against the will of his parents and went to the town. He was thirty when the spectators saw the adventure movie Mummy in which Brendan received the role of the charming fearless adventurer, the worthy follower of Indiana Jones. The picture Mummy became the first project of the trilogy. Brendan Fraser took part in all three movies. The role of Rick was unique because the fact that in this image Brendan could prove himself as a dramatic and comedy actor.

Then there followed the shootings in the following projects – Dudley Do-Right, Bedazzled, Crash, The Quiet American. All these projects had great cash in the hire. Probably, Fraser's masculine body and his sparkling humor hypnotized the audience.

In 2008 the actor appeared in the adventure movie, the screen version of Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. The film was created in 3D format. The leading characters had to get through the mouth of the extinct volcano into the bowels of the earth where they found the unknown creations and dangerous predators. Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem played the roles in the movie together with Fraser. A year later there began the shootings of one more screen adaptation of the adventure novel Inkheart written by Cornelia Funke with the participation of the actor. According to the plot of the movie, the characters get from real life to the world of the fictional characters of books. Eliza Bennett and Paul Bettany worked together with Brendan Fraser on the movie set.

In 2010 several projects with Fraser's participation were released at the same time, These were the projects A Case of You, Pawn Shop Chronicles and Furry Vengeance. Then the actor took a break - the directors didn’t invite him to take part in the blockbusters anymore, and he, probably, got tired of his comedy images. Fraser was engaged in the voicing of the characters in the movies and animated series.

The year 2013 became fruitful for the actor - Brendan was involved in five movies at the same time. In 2014 he took part in the following pictures – A Case of You and The Nut Job. A year later the actor enriched his filmography with the role in the drama series The Affair in which Dominic West and Ruth Wilson played the leading roles. This movie has gained the spectators' love and brought many international awards to its creators.

Personal life

Brendan Fraser was married to the actress Afton Smith. They met in 1993 at the party of their friend and began to talk to each other. Both of them were very surprised when they learned that they were born on the same day – on the 3rd of December. However, Afton Smith was born a year earlier than Fraser.

The actor proposed to his beloved woman five years later. It was September of 1998, Brendan and Afton were walking on the bridge over the Seine in Paris. The actor unexpectedly stopped, took Polaroid out of his bag which he always had with himself. Before making a photo together with his girlfriend, Brendan opened his jacket tail, and there was a sheet of paper sewn from the inside side with the question: "Will you marry me?". The actor didn't consider that Afton wouldn't see the small print, but he wasn't disappointed. He repeated the attempt one more time and that time he heard from the beloved in answer: "Yes!".

The lovers got married in the same year 1998. After the wedding, Afton and Brendan settled in their own house in Los Angeles. In this marriage Afton gave birth to their three sons – Griffin, Holden, and Leland were born. Afton and Brendan seemed to be an ideal family, but in December of 2007, the press reported about the divorce of the spouses (their minor son hardly turned two years at that time). The divorce proceedings turned out to be complicated because they had some financial issues. The newspapers wrote that Afton left her ex-spouse without a penny. The actor was suffering because of the divorce and didn’t start new relations for a long time.

When the passions of conflict have cooled, Brendan could communicate well with his children, and in a short time, he met his new love. The actress Maria Bello became his beloved woman. Fraser tries to spend his spare time with her or doing his favorite activities – the actor still takes pictures on Polaroid and collects them.

Brendan Fraser has settled in Los Angeles. Some years later he restored friendly relations with his ex-wife. Lately, they have normal communication but just as friends.

Brendan Fraser at present

In 2017 the fans of the actor who was considered to be the sex symbol of the nineties were surprised by the fact how Brendan changed. Before his 50th anniversary, less than half a year before the actor gained weight. The versions of the admirers of the Hollywood star about the reasons for this difference. Some of them admit that the actor neglected himself, others are sure that he put up weight for the role in the movie in which he is going to shoot. Actually, Fraser could have a hormonal imbalance because of health problems. Recently the actor has had many surgeries on the backbone, and also he had his knee and even chords operated.

Before Fraser had cardinally changed his style and image, he managed to play the leading role in the series Trust which tells about the kidnapping of the grandson of the oil tycoon. Despite such a dramatic plot of the series, it has a bright rock'n'roll atmosphere. Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank also took part in this picture. The series was premiered at the end of March 2018.

At present, the crime movie Line of Descent with Fraser's participation is on the stage of the preparation to the release. The actor will play the main role of the police officer who lives in Delhi and fights against the local crime. It is an American project which is prepared by Indian cinematographers. Three Days of the Condor is one more television picture of the year with the participation of Brendan. Moreover, Fraser has already concluded the contracts with the authors of the movies - The Legend of William Tell in which the actor will embody the major character and an image of the main character, and in the dramas Seconds of Pleasure.

Filmography

• 1991 – Dogfight
• 1991 – My Old School
• 1997 – George of the Jungle
• 1999 – Blast from the Past
• 1999 – Mummy
• 1999 – Dudley Do-Right
• 2004 – Crash
• 2008 – Journey to the Center of the Earth
• 2009 – Inkheart
• 2014 – The Nut Job
• 2016–2017 – The Affair
• 2018 – Trust

Photo