Brendan Fraser Won Oscar for Playing 600LB Man but Was Bullied for Being ‘Fat’ after Opening up about Injuries

Brendan Fraser's recent Oscar win may have been for his portrayal of a 600lb man, but the similarity between his role and his real life is eerily uncanny. The actor has been on both ends of the spectrum — being bullied for adding weight and starving himself for a role. He lost his marriage and his mother, but after a decade-long stint away from Hollywood, he is back and ready to take the world by storm.

Brendan Fraser is the newest Oscar winner in town after bagging the prestigious award for his part as Charlie in "The Whale." The actor won the Oscar for Best Actor, his first Oscar since he debuted his acting career in the 1991 film "Dogfight," where he played the small role of a seaman headed to Vietnam.

The award is a welcome surprise for the actor and his fans, as he just recently returned from a decade-long acting hiatus. Fraser was visibly beside himself as he rose to accept his award. He thanked all those who were part of the journey, including the Academy, Studio A24 for making such a bold film, the film's director, Darren Aronofsky, the screenwriters, and his fellow nominees.

In the psychological drama film released in theatres on December 9, 2022, Fraser plays the role of a reclusive and obese English instructor who teaches virtually and with his webcam off, ashamed of his physical appearance.

His only friend, Liz, pushes him to seek medical care from a hospital, but he says he cannot afford medical care. Despite being at risk of suffering severe congestive heart failure, he still orders pizza, following a strict routine with his delivery driver Dan, who drops the pizza off and collects money from the mailbox without the pair ever seeing face to face.

Charlie is also determined to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter Ellie, who he had not seen in eight years. He promises to give her the $120,000 in his bank account if she agrees to spend time with him without her mother's knowledge.

Despite the perfect execution of his role, Fraser says playing the part was incredibly challenging for him. He disclosed that transforming into a 600-pound man took a toll on him, with the movie director Darren Aronofsky noting that Fraser was "all pedal and no gas" only a month into filming the movie.

The actor was, however, determined to fully immerse himself in the role and see how far he would push himself. He confessed:

"I wanted to know what I was capable of."

Fraser admitted that during filming, he developed muscles he didn't know he had and even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed. But even better, he developed a more acute appreciation for those that have to live that way, noting that it needed someone of stronger mental and physical capacity.

The "Bedazzled" actor expressed his joy that people were watching and loving the film, responding in a way that was meaningful. His goal was to put out a movie that would touch many people, and that's precisely what the film has achieved.

The award was a full-circle moment for the actor who had been away from the silver screen for a decade. The win also wrapped up an impressive awards run for the actor, who also bagged the Best Actor honors at the Critics Choice Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role as Charlie.

The star shared that he took on the role as part of his learning journey, and despite the highs and lows he's had throughout his career, he is happy to know that he is contributing to the craft and learning from it.

"The Whale" is a story of redemption for Charlie, but many may not realize just how much the role resonated with Fraser's struggles from years back. Fraser is eerily similar to his character, Charlie, who did all he could to escape the public eye.

Despite his early success in film, appearing in "George of the Jungle," "The Mummy," and "The Mummy Returns," which saw him take home millions of dollars in salary, his career began dwindling in the early 2000s. Soon after, it appeared he had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.

The mystery surrounding Fraser's disappearance remained a secret until he opened up about it in 2018, when he revealed he had been canceled from Hollywood. He alleged the move was in response to him calling out the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press, Philip Berk, for sexually assaulting him.

Fraser detailed that he was at an HFPA luncheon when Berk touched him inappropriately, leaving him feeling miserable and reclusive. He said he became depressed and blamed himself, and for the next few weeks, he contemplated coming out to the public with his story.

However, after much thought, he decided he didn't want a story about abuse to be his life narrative and kept it from going public instead. However, he still wanted the issue addressed and sent his agents to demand an apology from Berk, who denied the allegations.

That was followed by uncertainties about his career after he was left wondering whether HFPA had blacklisted him. HFPA never once addressed the issue, only recently claiming that they learned about it after Fraser opened up about it in 2018. However, the actor says despite their silence on the matter, they never invited him to the Globes after 2003.

The next decade saw Fraser's career go downhill, as did his health. After suffering numerous injuries associated with the physical demands of doing his own stunts during the filming of "The Mummy" franchise, he had to undergo multiple surgeries spread over seven years. Still, his declining health was only the tip of the iceberg.

In 2007, his marriage of nine years ended, and his then-wife, actress Afton Smith sued him for alimony and child support. To add insult to injury, the actor also lost his mother to cancer.

Without a career and his marriage down the drain, Fraser decided Hollywood was not for him, and he retreated to live on a farm, where he could be away from the public eye. He packed his bags and moved to his New Bedford, New York, horse farm.

Life on the farm helped clear his mind, and he kept busy with walks in his sprawling yard, gathering firewood and shooting arrows at targets, a hobby he took on after his injuries barred him from working out. For years, he enjoyed the perks of living away from the spotlight, saying:

"It feels good to be removed. I'm a real firewood guy, probably a little bit too much."

The Bonafide Actor Struggled with His Weight

Much like the Charlie character that won him his first Oscar, Fraser is all too familiar with the criticism that comes with putting on a few pounds.

In 2018, The Mirror wrote an article about the actor, who appeared to have added a few pounds then, referring to him as unrecognizable when he was spotted at a beach in Barbados with his family. The publication alluded to the actor looking "shockingly different" as he enjoyed a day of snorkeling with his three sons, Leland, Holden, and Griffin.

Instagram users did not spare him any mercy and also joined in criticizing him for his looks. Following a post by @Quem with photos of the actor enjoying a day out with his kids, users mocked him, saying he looked "fat" and "ugly" and wondering why he didn't take better care of himself despite having so much money. Another fan wondered whether Fraser was pregnant, while another called him "chubby and bald."

Interestingly, Fraser has been on both extremes. Despite being criticized for his weight gain in 2018, the actor disclosed that he once starved himself for a role. The criticism came shortly after the actor opened up about his body being "ruined" from doing his own stunts during the filming of "The Mummy" movies.

"The Quiet America" star recalled training for "George of the Jungle," a film about Baby George, a lone survivor of a plane crash who is raised by a wise gorilla in the jungle, and the loincloth came with an intense diet and training regimen that saw him so starved of carbohydrates that he began experiencing memory loss.

He remembers one day when he was so famished driving home from work and wanting to stop and get something to eat, but when he got to the ATM to withdraw some cash, his memory failed him. He recalled:

"I couldn't remember my PIN number because my brain was misfiring. Banging on the thing. I didn't eat that night."

Fraser also remembers his body falling apart while filming "The Mummy" in 2008. He said he would be taped and iced during scenes due to the intense injuries he incurred. Before shooting a scene, the actor said screw-cap ice packs and downhill-mountain-biking pads were fitted under his clothes to help with his injuries because they were light and could go unnoticed.

To put his body back together, Fraser had to undergo several medical procedures, including a laminectomy, a partial knee replacement, vocal chord repairs, and even bolting various compressed spinal pads together.

Brendan Fraser's Unexpected Comeback — An Oscar, New Love, and Finding Happiness

Finally, after struggling to find his place, Fraser is back, bigger and better. It may have taken him decades to get here, but in true Fraser fashion, the actor has ensured his return has been felt far and wide. He now boasts an Oscar, the love of a beautiful woman, Jeanne Moore, and successfully raising three beautiful sons.

Despite appearing in a variety of roles in the past, ranging from playing a goofy rockstar bandmate in "Airheads," a cartoon-like troglodyte in "Encino Man," to the socially awkward office employee Elliot in "Bedazzled," Fraser appreciates that Charlie, his most recent role, is the most heroic man he has ever played because of his superpower, always seeing the good in people and bringing it out in them.

After Halle Berry announced his win, the actor got up, kissed his girlfriend, and then made his way to the stage, where he received the award. His emotional speech was a testament to his happiness at that moment. He thanked his sons for being in his life and gave a shout-out to his best first mate, Jeannie.

Despite being away for so long, his fans are ecstatic that he is back and making big wins. Following his speech, fans noted that while they did not care much for the Oscars, they were happy that he had won and that his receiving the award had brought tears to their eyes. One fan praised the star for his good heart, writing:

"Thank you for being a good man all this time, Brendan."

Life could not be better for Fraser. After being through so much in the past decade or so, from health problems to losing his mother, ending his marriage, and even being "banned" from Hollywood, things are finally turning around, and he hopes it is only the beginning of even better things to come.

It remains unclear when the "The Affair" actor and his girlfriend began dating. However, they are in love, and that's all that matters. She is the only woman Fraser has stepped out to the public with since his divorce, but he has finally found the missing part of his life.

Moore, a makeup artist, has been by the actor's side, celebrating with him when he got a 6-minute standing ovation after "The Whale" first showed, to being at his side when he received his first ever Oscar. The future can only get better for the "Gods and Monsters" actor as he looks forward to appearing in more Oscar-worthy films.