Actor Brendan Fraser has made a big comeback to the big screen with his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” And he is receiving a lot of Oscar buzz for his accomplishment. Variety, Indie Wire and Awards Daily have all put Fraser near the top of their lists for the Best Actor not.
“The Whale” is a film about a 600-pound writing teacher in bad health who desperately wants to reconnect with his daughter. “With ‘The Whale,’ Aronofsky and Fraser have taken substantive risks, in the name of an insistent empathy. I think, and my tear ducts agree, that those risks paid off,” Glenn Kenny writes for Roger Ebert.com.
It would not be a surprise for Fraser to also be nominated for a Golden Globe award, but if he is, he won’t be attending the celebration.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser told GQ.
“No, I will not participate.”
“It’s because of the history that I have with them,” Fraser continued. “And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”
It seems that in 2003, Philip Berk, the former president and member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), groped and sexually assaulted the actor at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel. “I felt ill. I felt like a little kid,” he told GQ. “I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry.”
Fraser made the allegation public in 2018, and it caused there to be a lot of support for the loved actor. Health issues and trauma from the incident caused him to retreat from the spotlight.
Berk disputes Fraser’s claim and reached out to him but he admitted no wrongdoing. “Mr. Fraser’s version is a total fabrication.”
Fraser told GQ that he’s ready to do the press rounds to campaign for an Oscar award this season. But he won’t put his own dignity ahead of his career, and he won’t attend a ceremony led by a group of people who did not support his allegation.
All these years and we discover that Brendan Fraser really is the guy you think he is, which means he's too pure for this world and the world put some scars on him. I love him more than ever now.https://t.co/XGXV8FG5GK
— Geek Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) February 22, 2018
