Fraser became a household name in the early 2000s after appearing in a number of enormous Hollywood movies. The Mummy series, for one, was staggeringly successful and sent him into leading man territory for the first time. After that, he enjoyed some incredible success in films such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Monkebone, The Quiet American, and Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
But behind the glitz and glamour, Fraser was suffering.
Fraser began his career by being thrown around on set as the indestructible leading man. Recalling one of his first on-screen appearances Fraser said: “They gave me a sailor outfit, along with some other guys, and we did a punch-up scene with some marines. And I got my Screen Actors Guild card and an extra 50 bucks for the stunt adjustment, ’cause they threw me into a pinball machine.”
He added: “I think I bruised a rib, but I was like: That’s okay! I’ll take it. I can do it again. If you want, I’ll break it. You want me to do it again?”
After suffering so much on-set trauma from carrying out stunts, he had to get some “surgeries”.
He later added: “By the time I did the third Mummy picture in China [in 2008] I was put together with tape and ice – I was building an exoskeleton for myself daily.”
But that wasn’t the worst thing to happen to the star.
Fraser revealed in an interview with GQ that he “touched inappropriately” in the summer of 2003. He recalled a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the HFPA) “touched his bum”.
He said: “His left-hand reaches around, grabs my a** cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around.”
“Am I still frightened?” he added about the trauma he’s experienced since. “Absolutely. Do I feel like I need to say something? Absolutely. Have I wanted to many, many times? Absolutely. Have I stopped myself? Absolutely.”
READ MORE: The Mummy star Brendan Fraser was ‘choked out’ during filming
Fraser said: “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 mould and shape you in ways that you’re not ready for until you go through them.” He later added that he’s a “lot better now”.
In recent months Fraser has made appearances at fan conventions where he has been overwhelmed with support from his fandom.
Most recently he got choked up after being asked: “How does it feel to have all these people kinda worshipping you?”
Fraser confessed he was “feeling the love”. He then addressed how emotional he was by the response. He explained he was getting choked up: “Yeah I backed into that – was I? I was like, I don’t know … I appreciate it and it let me know that, I guess, I just wasn’t aware that there’s that much support. I appreciate it very, very much.”
