Brendan Fraser No Longer ‘Reclusive’ after Being in & Out of Hospitals for 7 Years — His Beloved Jeanne Is near Him

Brendan Fraser disappeared from the radar of Hollywood for several decades. "I was going through things that mold and shape you in ways that you're not ready for until you go through them." Now he is back again to a six-minute standing ovation, and next to him is his new girlfriend!

Brendan Fraser was almost a household name in the early 2000s. The actor starred in beloved films such as "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "The Mummy." He was known as something of a heartthrob, and he gained widespread attention.

In 1991, the actor landed his first noteworthy role in the movie "Dogfight." He went on to play in other highly successful films, including "Encino Man" and, famously, "George of the Jungle." He even made Stephen Baldwin a bit jealous of his popularity when they acted together.

After "George of the Jungle," Fraser started dating his on-screen love interest in real life. Fraser and Afton Smith began dating in 1982 and continued to see each other, only marrying in 1889. Everything indicated that the actor's career was only going upward.

After the couple married, they had three children together. This is also around the time that Fraser was approached to play the lead role in the movie franchise "The Mummy." He accepted, and the movies led to even more fame for the rising actor.

The first movie came out in 1999 and featured Fraser as a young adventurer looking for the tomb of an old Egyptian pharaoh. Everything goes wrong when he finds the crypt, and the film shows Fraser doing daring stunts and fighting undead monsters.

But, just as the actor's career seemed to be at its best, with lifelong fame looming right around the corner, things seemed to go wrong. A complex series of events happened at the same time that took Fraser away from the big screen.

The Fall of Fraser

By the third film in the series of "The Mummy" movies, Fraser's body was in shambles. The actor preferred to do his own stunts, and the constant physical toll had long-lasting consequences. He commented that eventually:

"By the time I did the third Mummy picture in China, I was put together with tape and ice—I was building an exoskeleton for myself daily."

The constant wear and tear on his body left him bruised and battered, and the actor had to undergo several serious major surgeries. He had already had lumbar surgery that failed to have any real effect, and he needed a laminectomy on top of that.

So, the actor had to take a step back from high-intensity action films. He remembered that he had surgeries for around seven years. All of this absence from movies meant that people had largely moved on. Although he still had fans, his following was not as big as it once was.

It also turned out that the divorce between him and Smith wasn't as friendly as he first made it seem.

After a while, Fraser managed to get a few roles for himself. In 2003, though, he fell off the map entirely after a meeting with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. After the meeting, Fraser reported inappropriate behavior from one of the executives.

This more-or-less buried the actor. Many people didn't believe him, and he wondered whether the other executives had blacklisted him. He also started developing feelings of depression because of the event. After a while, the actor decided to live a more reclusive life.

The Aftereffects

So, Fraser retracted from public life and largely stopped working as well. He reported that during this time, his depression worsened and his confusion around what to do about his situation made him indecisive and scared.

Finally, after years in the dark, not performing in anything that people would call notable, Fraser has been making a comeback.

This, paired with the serious physical trauma he had undergone, made the actor vanish. Besides his back problems and the laminectomy, he had a partial knee replacement, more back surgery, and even his vocal cords had to be repaired.

After all this sent him into a bad physical and emotional state, his wife also decided she wanted a divorce. "The Mummy" and "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" were also rebooted, but with a new lead. The actor commented on this time in his life:

"I changed houses; I went through a divorce. Some kids were born. I mean, they were born, but they're growing up. I was going through things that mold and shape you in ways that you're not ready for until you go through them."

Eventually, he got a role in the series "The Affair." In an interview for the show, the actor could be seen looking extremely downtrodden and barely spoke in an audible register. After many theories were thrown about, he revealed that his mother had passed recently before the interview.

It also turned out that the divorce between him and Smith wasn't as friendly as he first made it seem. Apparently, he had been sent into debt by his child support payments while also having to pay for all of his surgeries.

Fraser's Return

Finally, after years in the dark, not performing in anything that people would call notable, Fraser has been making a comeback. The actor, now much older than when he left, with some extra weight added to his once-slender figure, has been cast in Daron Aronofsky's new film, "The Whale."

The film was originally a play, and Aronofsky has adapted it for the screen. Fraser plays Charlie, a withdrawn English teacher with a life-threatening weight problem, hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Aronofsky commented:

"I knew he could play someone who most people would start off by dismissing, but within five minutes they'd start to feel something for him. Then, within 20 minutes, they're starting to fall in love with the character. Pretty soon, he starts to break your heart."

Audiences adored Fraser's portrayal of Charlie. After the film's initial screening at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival, the crowd ended the film with a boisterous six-minute standing ovation. Even critics have praised the movie as a remarkable comeback. Fraser commented:

"It felt so affirming. I was emotional because it was acknowledgment that what we did is making an impact. And that kind of response feels completely new in my professional life."

The film has already gathered enough attention for many to suggest it will be an Oscar winner. That said, Aronofsky mentioned that many viewers might "shut down" at the first sight of Charlie. The director, along with Fraser, preferred artistic vision over crowd-pleasing.

Along with a new, exciting film, other parts of Fraser's life are also looking up. The actor has reportedly started seeing someone new. During the Venice Film Festival, the actor constantly had makeup artist Jeanne Moore by his side.