Brendan Fraser is currently favourite to win Best Actor at the Golden Globes for his role in ‘The Whale’, but he’s just told this GQ interviewer that he’s already decided to turn down his invite to the event:
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser said. “No, I will not participate.”
He was speaking very quietly. I had to lean forward just to hear him over the wind moving through the trees above us. “It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”
In case you didn’t know, Brendan Fraser is referring to the time he was sexually assault by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk (pic below), in 2003.
“His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint… And he starts moving it around. 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.”
Following this incident, which he didn’t make public at the time but reported to the HFPA, Fraser found himself blacklisted from Hollywood and his career went into immediate decline. The natural assumption was that he was being punished for reporting the abuse. Not only that, he also went through a brutal divorce that bankrupted him and ended up depressed with a whole load of health issues.
As we’ve seen these last few months though, Brendan Fraser has made one hell of a comeback. No only is he being tipped for all kinds of awards for ‘The Whale’, he’s also got a part in the upcoming Martin Scorsese/Leo DiCaprio/Keanu Reeves movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon‘. Which is pretty awesome because by all accounts, Brendan Fraser is one of the most genuine and likable people in the pretentious and w-kerish world of Hollywood. For the Golden Globes to give him the Best Actor gong? That would be full circle indeed, even if he doesn’t turn up to collect it. Go Brendan Go!
For news on the new, completed script for ’28 Months Later’, click HERE.
