Brendan Fraser turns 54: Here are 10 unmissable roles of the actor from “The Whale”

brendan fraser He turns 54 this December 3, although his birthday gift seems to have already been received this year with his celebrated return to stardom thanks to “The Whale”, where the interpreter, better known as an action hero and comedian, shows his ability acting role in a complex drama embodying the emotional life of an extremely obese man.

With more than three decades of acting, beginning with the film “Dogfight” in 1991, Fraser has gone through film, television and theater. His most famous moment came at the turn of the millennium, with “The Mummy” (1999) turning him into the action hero of the moment thanks to his natural charm, his good looks and his developed comic sense. .

But a series of personal problems, such as the devastating physical consequences of his demanding acting job and sexual harassment at the hands of then-HFPA president Philip Berk, caused the quality of his work to plummet and by 2008, after disastrous box office results for films like “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and “Journey to the Center of the Earth” drove him into relative obscurity.

Despite this, the actor did not stop working, leaving memorable roles in series such as “The Affair”, “Condor” and “Doom Patrol”, as well as, more recently, a supporting role in “No Sudden Move”. The recent attention to his performance in “The Whale,” where Fraser plays a 550-pound college professor, has served to remind the world that he is an actor worth watching. And if we talk about things that are worth seeing, here is a list of films by the interpreter that you cannot miss.

“Encino Man” / “The Man from California” (1992)

Early in his career, Brendan Fraser stars in this comedy alongside Sean Astin and Pauly Shore as a Neanderthal who is unfrozen in modern times. Although certainly not a complex role or an excellent comedy, Fraser in his role as Link shows us here the beginnings of a comic role that we would later see in movies like “George of the Jungle.”

“School Ties” / “Code of Honor” (1992)

Brendan Fraser stars in this drama where he shares the stage with future stars like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O’Donnell and Anthony Rapp. Showing that the actor also had a flair for drama early in his career, Fraser plays a young man in 1959 who has to hide his Jewish roots because of the prevailing anti-Semitism at his boarding school and the consequences when this secret is discovered.

“Airheads” / “airheads” (1994)

Brendan Fraser returns to humor with this comedy alongside Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler, where the three make up a rock band curiously called “The Lone Rangers”. Desperate to make a name for themselves, the three musicians have the brilliant idea of ​​hijacking a radio station to play their music.

“Bedazzled” / “To hell with the devil” (2000)

Fraser performs a dynamic duet with Elizabeth Hurley in this film where a shy man sells his soul to the devil (Hurley) for a chance to land the woman of his dreams, experiencing various alternate lives. Far from being the best comedy in the world, the film is rescued by Fraser’s charisma.

“No Sudden Move” (2021)

Coming to more recent films, Brendan Fraser has a supporting but important role in Steven Soderbergh’s crime thriller starring Benicio del Toro and Don Cheadle. In the film, set in 1954 Detroit, Fraser plays Doug Jones, a criminal who recruits a team of criminals for a job that soon spirals out of control.

“Still Breathing” (1997)

Not the best-known film in the actor’s career, but perhaps his most accomplished romantic comedy. In “Still Breathing” Fraser plays a puppeteer whose dreams connect him to a woman in Los Angeles – played by Joanna Going -, unaware that she is a con artist.

“Crash” (2004)

Brendan Fraser stars as a Los Angeles district attorney seeking re-election in a racially charged environment. Although Paul Haggis’s film, which won three Oscars in 2005, has been called into question in more recent times, Fraser’s performance is one of his highlights.

“The Quiet American” / “The impassive American” (2002)

Brendan Fraser meets Michael Caine in this adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel. In the film, Fraser plays Alden Pyle, a CIA agent who travels to Vietnam to advance American interests and becomes involved in a love triangle with the young Vietnamese Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) and British journalist Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine).

“Gods and Monsters” / “Gods and Monsters” (1998)

In another excellent dramatic performance, Fraser stars opposite Ian McKellen in this film about the last days of the life of James Whale (McKellen), the director of the classic film “Frankenstein” (1931). Fraser plays Clayton Boone, a gardener who begins a strange and unstable friendship with the director, who, plagued by his failing health, takes refuge in his youthful memories.

“The Mummy”/ “La mummy” (1999)

Undoubtedly Brendan Fraser’s most remembered film, combining action, comedy and even some scares. The role of Rick O’Connel seems to be made for Fraser, taking advantage of his charisma and comic sense to the greatest degree to make us one of the iconic characters of the beginning of the new millennium.