Brendan Fraser Reflects on His Recent Success: It Never Felt Like a Comeback to Him

NEED TO KNOW

• Brendan Fraser reflects on his 2023 Oscar win and recent success, which he does not consider “a comeback.”
• In 2022’s The Whale, Fraser received a Critics Choice Award and SAG Award alongside his first Academy Award.
• The actor’s latest project is the film Rental Family.

Brendan Fraser has characterized his 2023 Oscar win for The Whale not as a return to form, but rather as a continuation of his journey in Hollywood.

In a recent interview with AARP The Magazine, Fraser, now 57, stated, “I understood why people were framing it as a comeback, but the truth is I never went that far away,” reflecting on his more than 30 years in the industry.

Fraser first gained widespread recognition in the 1990s with films such as School Ties, Airheads, and The Mummy, maintaining a successful career until the mid-2000s.

After a period in which he stepped back from the public eye, Fraser made a notable return by playing a 600-pound man dealing with personal reflections in director Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, a role that earned him the Oscar, as well as a Critics Choice Award and SAG Award.

Brendan Fraser on Dec. 10, 2025.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Fraser remarked, “That acknowledgment was the culmination of a great number of people’s efforts on my behalf and it made me feel even more grateful for the good fortune I’ve had to have been able to do this job for the last 30 years,” in his interview with AARP The Magazine.

He expressed a desire to remain active in the industry: “It also made me feel like I mustn’t become too comfortable now. I still need to pay attention to that instinct I have, which is to continue, to keep working, keep reaching for interesting projects.”

AARP The Magazine

Since his Oscar win, Fraser has starred in projects like Killers of The Flower Moon and Brothers, and most recently, he has taken on the role of an American actor living in Tokyo in Rental Family.

Reflecting on his mindset leading to the Oscar, he shared that he previously felt he had “everything to prove.” However, he now feels less pressure as he continues his career. “And now, to be honest, not so much,” he added.

Fraser has three sons—Griffin, 23, Holden, 21, and Leland, 19—with ex-wife Afton Smith, whom he married from 1998 to 2007. He has been in a relationship with makeup artist Jeanne Moore since at least 2022.

As he looks forward, Fraser commented, “I feel a sense of calm and confidence now at this time in life. I also feel like there’s so much left to do.” He emphasized the importance of time, noting, “That’s something I’m learning more and more as we go along, as I see my own kids growing up, as I see the opportunity to start again and do better. If I can do it, we all can.”