It’s not unusual for incredibly successful actors to express their gratitude to fans for supporting them, but very few emote those feelings, including Brendan Fraser. Recently, the Mummy star nearly came to tears after a fan asked him one innocent question.
During the 90s, Brendan Fashier was a household name, a true A-list star being featured in some of Hollywood’s biggest films like The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and George of the Jungle.
However, as his star began to fade, the actor decided to take a break from acting in 2010 to deal with some personal issues.
On top of the number of injuries he sustained while performing his own stunts, Fasher struggled with bouts of crippling depression as well as an alleged sexual assault when he claims he was groped by Golden Globes executive Philip Berk.
After spending several years in and out of treatment, Fasher is now enjoying a big career comeback, as he now has leading roles in upcoming movies such as Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” and “Batgirl.” Fans have dubbed his newfound success ‘The Brendan Fraser Renaissance.”
However, the actor still gets very emotional when recalling the journey he’s been through.
At a recent Megacon Q&A event, Brendan was nearly reduced to tears after a fan asked a question loaded with emotional meaning to him.
“First of all, I just wanna say thank you for sharing your stories. I know many people – including myself – are survivors, and seeing you talk about it has been one of the most inspirational things I’ve seen in my life,” the fan can be heard saying to Fraser.
They add: “During your kind of renaissance, was there a particular moment where you knew you made the right decision to come back?”
Fraser takes a moment to compose himself but seems unable to answer as he blinks back tears.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry, I’m sorry,” his fan says quickly.
When he has managed to regain composure, Fraser gives his answer. “Are you ready for this? It was when I got that horse. It was when I got that horse. Who I’m sad to say has gone on to greener pastures, but I learned a great deal.”
Brendan’s heartfelt and human response elicited more cheers from the crowd.
You can watch this heartwarming moment in the video below.
Meanwhile, as to the “horse” Brendan referred to, he was likely talking about Pecas, a horse he’d first met while filming a TV series in 2015 called Texas Rising.
In 2018, the actor talked to GQ about the instantaneous connection he felt with Pecas, who he later took back to live with him.
“Without doing too much—what’s the word? Anthropomorphic…anthropomorphizing… Without pretending that the animal is a human, he looked like he needed help. Like: ‘Get me out of here, man,'” Fraser recalled.
Thinking of this picture of Brendan Fraser and a horse he rescued from Mexico named Pecas (Freckles) pic.twitter.com/0qMoyJ34RH
— • Fιɳαʅ 𒉭 ɠιɾʅ • (@gorowhoro) October 8, 2021
During the same interview, Brendan also mentioned how he believed his career was negatively impacted after he came forward with an allegation of sexual assault by the former president of the HFPA, Philip Berk, during the summer of 2003.
The actor claims Berk groped him inappropriately in a crowded room, causing the actor to become overwhelmed by feelings of fear and panic.
Brendan Fraser says sexual assault from an exec made him leave #Hollywood https://t.co/7scxMViwbi pic.twitter.com/AquHD4oMvi
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) February 23, 2018
Brendan told GQ:
“Am I still frightened? Absolutely. Do I feel like I need to say something? Absolutely. Have I wanted to many, many times? Absolutely. Have I stopped myself? Absolutely.”
On another occasion, Brendan said:
“I felt ill. I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry.”
HFPA is investigating Brendan Fraser's sexual assault claim https://t.co/8Tw4DWo0mD pic.twitter.com/e5DOzmaBcZ
— New York Post (@nypost) February 24, 2018
However, Berk, now age 88, continues to deny the incident happened.
Meanwhile, the HFPA issued a statement in 2018, dismissing the incident as a joke or misunderstanding.
“The HFPA continues to stand firmly against sexual harassment. As such, we have always taken Brendan Fraser’s allegations very seriously—both when he originally spoke out in 2003 and now again 15 years later. Back then, after an initial inquiry, we provided Mr. Fraser with the exact redress he sought—an acknowledgement of the transgression and an apology. Mr. Fraser continued to attend HFPA events including the Golden Globes.
When Mr. Fraser raised the allegations again this year in the March issue of GQ, adding several previously unknown details, we conducted an internal review and then took it upon ourselves to commission an independent investigation into the matter to ensure impartiality.
We’ve shared the results of that investigation with Mr. Fraser, and again apologized, but also conveyed our need to abide by the investigation’s finding that the exchange was not an intended sexual advance. We want to reiterate that the HFPA understands today—as it did 15 years ago—that what Mr. Fraser experienced was inappropriate.”
You can watch a video detailing Brendan Frasier’s difficult journey back to the top below.
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Source:
- “Brendan Fraser tears up over fan question: ‘I didn’t mean to make you cry, I’m sorry” Vt. Carina Murphy. June 21, 2022.