Brendan Fraser Through the Years: Action Stardom, Oscar Buzz and More
12.10.2022 - 21:25
/ usmagazine.com
Brendan Fraser was one of the biggest action stars of the ’90s and early ’00s, but he later receded from the public eye — leaving fans eagerly awaiting his comeback.
The Indiana native made his film debut in 1991’s Dogfight, one year before Encino Man and School Ties turned him into a heartthrob. The latter film also starred Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris O’Donnell, who — like Fraser — weren’t yet the A-list stars they would later become.
“Most of them had done no work at all,” School Ties director Robert Mandel told Yahoo in September 2022. “Chris had done one movie, but it was a small film that wasn’t widely seen. So, you couldn’t reference a lot of their past work.”
After racking up more credits in Airheads, Glory Daze and more, Fraser landed the role that catapulted him to an even higher level of stardom: the titular character in George of the Jungle. The comedy earned mixed reviews but was a box office hit, and its leading man became a household name.
Two years later, the Trust alum established himself as an action star in The Mummy, which became a worldwide success and launched a franchise that included two sequels, a prequel and an animated series. “It was a real-life adventure,” Fraser told Popverse in September 2022 of shooting the 1999 movie on location in Morocco. “We didn’t know what we had on our hands, and there was a certain sense of liberty and excitement about it.”
Fraser then expanded his repertoire with roles in dramas including 2002’s The Quiet American and the Oscar-winning 2004 film Crash, but as his star rose, his personal life began to falter. In 2007, he and wife Afton Smith announced their plans to divorce. As part of the settlement, Fraser was ordered to pay $900,000 per year in alimony and child