Brendan Fraser – From action hero to Oscar winner

Superhero films in particular like to include Oscar winners among their stars and creators. People often talk about "Oscar actors in action films", but rarely the other way around. Brendan Fraser is an exception among them, but his potential was already recognisable in his early career performances – even the silliest ones.

Canadian-American Brendan Fraser (born 1968) began his acting career mainly in television productions in the early 1990s. He quickly made his breakthrough in 1992 with the film California Man: TheEncino Man. In it, Fraser played a caveman who comes to life in modern-day California and is drawn into the joyful life of a student.

This laid the foundation for his portrayal of physical, comical and adventurous characters, in which he rose to a class of his own in the late 1990s. In 1994, Fraser starred in the rock-inspired comedyAirheads, which was not understood at the time but has since deservedly become a cult favourite. This was followed by roles that set the direction for Fraser's career: the silly Tarzan pasticheGeorge of the Jungle (1997) andThe Mummy(1999), which started an entire film series .

The Mummy, in particular, made him a classic "old school" action hero – a kind of 1990s version of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones charisma, but with a more slapstick twist. His star identity was built on physical comedy, charm, light-hearted heroism and pure popcorn entertainment. Few would have considered him Oscar material at the time.

By the 20 00s, Fraser's rise to fame had quickly levelled off. Although he made new Mummy films and tried to launch a couple of new franchises with 2008 films such as the fantasy book adaptation Inkheart and the Jules Verne adventure Journey to the Centre of the Earth, they did not achieve the same success as before. Although Fraser was still funny in silly comedies such asBedazzled (2000), his roles began to diminished to television series and supporting roles in films such as Crash (2004). The journey also included some really bad choices, such asFurry Vengeance. Fraser was no longer a star.

In addition to career problems, Fraser faced physical and mental setbacks. As the Lone Ranger and Rick O'Connell in The Mummy, he was never a cold, untouchable alpha male, but a character who was willing to look silly, hurt himself in slapstick and throw himself into the role. Now we know that he also actually hurt himself in those roles. They led to long-term health problems that required surgery.

In hindsight, one can also consider how much his self-deprecating masculinity was also a protective shell. Self-deprecation can be a way to take control of a situation by laughing at oneself before others have a chance to, thereby neutralising criticism of underrated physical comedy and deliberately silly heroism.

Self-irony can also be a way of showing genuine vulnerability and taking a risk with the audience's laughter. In the 2000s, Fraser also showed fragility. As his career and health wavered, his marriage crumbled, he lost loved ones, and he became the target of sexual harassment by an influential figure in the industry .

Fraser kept a low profile for a long time until the 2020s, when he began a new rise to fame, which fans have dubbed the Brenessance. The culmination of this was, of course, the Oscar for Best Actor for Darren Aronofsky's film The Whale (2022). Ironically, it feels like a commentary on the films that made him a star .

In The Whale, the body of the character played by Fraser is no longer a tool for jokes or a functional instrument; it is static, fragile and a painful object of gaze. What had previously been a tool for comedy and adventure was now a tool for tragedy and empathy.

Perhaps Fraser's case also tells us how 1990s "light entertainment" was not valued in the same way as it is today in franchise culture. The Oscar feels like a symbolic restoration of honour. It was recognised that the "gentle clown" was much more than that all along. However, Fraser's potential should have been clear after just a few films in the 1990s.

As evidence, let us take Bill Condon'sGods and Monsters(1998) and, in particular, Philip Ridley's Passion of Darkly Noon from 1995. Gods and Monsters is a delightful drama about the later years ofdirector James Whale. The legendary director, played by Ian McKellen, takes his eye on Fraser's gardener and begins to tell him stories about the creation of his classics. Fraser is not in the lead role and is undeniably overshadowed by McKellen (who wouldn't be?), but he still convinces in this serious film amidst the comedy and action.

Passion of Darkly Noon, on the other hand, is a film that should have disrupted the easy categorisation of Fraser as merely an adventure star. It was anything but a safe career choice, as it contains religious hysteria, sexual repression, psychological violence and downright Gothic intensity.

Fraser's Darkly Noon is a neurotic, fanatical, extremely sensitive and frightening character. There is a crack in his performance, not just physical antics. He is not sympathetic, but rather disturbing and tragic. Perhaps that is why it is often overlooked when discussing Fraser's work – or because not many people have seen it...

Darkly Noon was not a commercial or critical breakthrough, but fortunately it is now a cult classic. The success of The Mummy defined Fraser so strongly that his earlier, darker roles were retrospectively overlooked. Cynically, one could also suspect that a proper comeback story needs a simple arc of a light action star who rises from obscurity to become an Oscar winner in a heavy drama. Darkly Noon messes up the neat story because it shows that the capacity was there all along.

Darkly Noon and The Whale are connected. Darkly Noon cannot handle uncertainty, reacts to fear with fanaticism, and tries to protect himself from the world with rigid ideology. Both feature a closed male character who cannot deal with the world around him. Fraser does not portray them ironically. He goes all in with the character .

Although Fraser's story could easily be made into a film, it is not over yet. In 2026, he will appear in Pressure, in which he plays President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In addition, Andy Garciais working on the crime drama Diamond. Long-time fans are particularly interested in the return of Rick O'Connell. The Mummy 4 is scheduled for release in 2028, in which we will hopefully hear what has become of the hero of the 90s and his family .

It would be a fitting tribute to the gentle comedian who was always willing to look silly but also open to his emotions. This was not highly valued in the action culture of the 1990s. Fraser brought softness to physical and cool masculinity. This made him beloved by audiences, but not necessarily takenseriously by the industry. Now that discrepancy has been corrected.