Brendan Fraser: Return Engagement

'I’m still not done proving myself yet. And to do that, I need bigger and greater challenges.'

Brendan Fraser

According to much of the press, this is actor Brendan Fraser's year of 'The Comeback'.  Except for the similarly named television show, which I loved, I'm not really a big fan of the term.  In showbusiness, it's usually used to describe an actor who's stopped working or disappeared from our movie and television screens.  That's certainly not Brendan Fraser.

Fraser has worked steadily since he began working in the early 1990's.  His acting resume in fact, includes acting roles in every year.  The only year he wasn't visible on film or tv was 2005, but he did do some voice work that year, including a stint voicing characters on King of the Hill.

What changed for Fraser was his level of fame.  He hit big in 1992 with School Ties, and was one of the 'it' actors working in big budget films, as well as lower budget films, with some of the industries biggest starts.  Movies like School Ties, Encino Man, With Honors, The Mummy and George of Jungle kept Fraser on the cover of magazines, and on the Hollywood 'it' list.

By the late 2000's, The Mummy franchise ended and Fraser continued to work in movies, and more so in television.   Even in the last few years, Fraser had regular roles on HBO's The Affair and in DC's  Doom Patrol.  Neither role however, pushed up back up the fame ladder like his role in his Oscar nominated role in The Whale.  This year's Oscar themed posts seemed the perfect time to look back on Fraser's career, his skin career that is, with a spotlight in my latest Actors & SKIN.  Check out Brendan's bare bio HERE: & HERE:

Back to School

'No sir. You're never going to forget this happened, because I'm going to stay here. And every time you see me, you'll remember that it happened. You used me for football. I'll use you to get into Harvard'

David Green

I was still in high school when I saw 1992's School Ties in the theatre.  The movie had a lasting impact on me for a number of reasons.  The subject matter of course, and the fact I was on a date with my high school girlfriend.  I wrote a bit about my experience on the site before when I profiled actor Randall Batinkoff, some of which I'm sharing again below. 

At the time, I knew nothing about what the film was about and had never heard of Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser, Randall Batinkoff or any of the other male actors that made up the cast.  The film was sort of a dream come true for the guy (still in the closet)  on the date back then. Each male cast members was more adorable than the next. Chiseled jaws, great hair, and incredible bodies, some of whom were showed off in the famous shower scene.  

At the time, I crushed mostly over Randall and Brendan Fraser.  The entire cast however, Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Andrew Lowery and Anthony Rapp were all incredibly good looking and incredibly talented.  The film introduced me to most of the cast, Fraser, Damon, and Damon's hot derrière. It also introduced me to something I'd not previously been aware of, antisemitism.

Sadly, thanks in large part to the orange ass who inhabited The White House, antisemitism has been spotlighted once again.  It likely never went away, but it didn't have a recent national political figure who supported and coddled it's followers and believers.  When I first watched School Ties, I thought I was watching a piece of history, how sadly wrong I was.

I'm not sure if the casting director, and the film's director Robert Mandel knew what magic they created with the actors they hired.  It's rare to find a film that caught so many young actors on the brink of hitting it big.  The film was certainly Brendan Fraser's break out role, and Damon, Affleck and O'Donnell quickly followed School Ties with huge break out films of their own.

So.. that shower scene.... It was hard to sit still in my seat when I first watched in the theatre. Thank God it was dark and that my date as focused on the screen and not my excitement and arousal.  At the time, my focus was on Damon's cute butt, and a little distracted by the bubbles strategically place on Chris O'Donnell's butt, clearly at the actor's request to ensure his butt was not fully visible. 

Brendan Fraser and Matt Damon however appeared completely nude, something Fraser recently confirmed during a recent guest spot on The Howard Stern Show.  After Howard asked about the bare wrestling shower fight, Fraser shared that he and Damon were indeed completely nude during the filming of the scene. 

'It was scary. It's scary to do that. When you're an actor and you're starting off, you're ambitious and game for pretty much anything. They say, 'Jump,' and you say, 'How high?' 

'I appreciated that this isn't really for wow or a scintillating factor of going, 'Hey, look at that. Naked people.' The point of it was is that when Damon's character says what he says about David, he just reveals who he is.  His anti-Semitism and his prejudice is stripped down naked, and it's ugly.'

Brendan Fraser: Actors & SKIN

I was first introduced to Brendan Fraser when he played private school student David Greene 1992's School Ties.  In addition to Brendan's beauty, the movie was incredibly impactful to me, so much so, the film, and the shower scene, warrant it's own post on the NEXT PAGE HERE:

Doom Patrol (2019-2023)

Although many might believe Brendan's nudity resume was primarily in the 1990's, there was on exception. Brendan had a brief butt scene in the pilot to DC's Doom Patrol in 2019. 

Gods And Monsters (1998)

'The last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.'

Although he was not 'technically' naked in 1998's, Gods And Monsters, Fraser did show some skin in some intimately erotic scenes with Ian McKellen who played James Whale.  In the film, Whale befriends his young, handsome gardener, Clayton Boone, (Fraser) and the two begin a sometimes uneasy friendship as Boone poses for Whale's sketches.  When Whale attempts to get physical with Boone, his advances are definitely not reciprocated. 

George of the Jungle (1987)

During the 1990's, Brendan Fraser was able to smoothly move from character roles in critically acclaimed films, to silly fan favorite mainstream films like 1997's George of the Jungle.  Although he always had a great body, he was especially buffed playing the loin cloth wearing George who was raised in the jungle by apes. 

The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995)

'A young man who has spent his life as a member of an ultraconservative Christian cult loses his parents and becomes disoriented, wandering into a forest and meeting a coffin transporter, a caring woman, her mute boyfriend, and his mother.'

With Honors (1994)

'Convinced his thesis will have him graduate with honors from Harvard University, a stuffy student finds himself at the mercy of a homeless man's demands when he holds the papers hostage.'

WTF: Brendan Fraser

I was 15 or 16 when I went to the movies to see 'School Ties'. So much to love about this move. Besides Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Cole Hauser and Randall Batinkoff the movie had me wishing I could be sent away to a private school. (Many other movies had me having this same dream).

Most of the cast is still looking mighty fine, but looks are not what this post is about. Seeing Brendan Fraser on tv this past week promoting his new film, 'Furry Vengeance' has been down right depressing. What on earth happened to Fraser? He mentioned on one show having a bit of a Red Bull addition and I hope that is all it is. Although Fraser continues to act, is now producing and has a family he appears out of his everlovin tree. Maybe he is just hyper, maybe he is just nervous doing live tv, but if I were his agent I would certainly pull him from doing any more press for this movie.

Another crush bites the dust...

Randall Batinkoff: A Brief look back at School Ties

I was about 16 or 17, still in high school when I went to the theatre to see 1992's School Ties.  I went to the movie on a date and the girl I was taking picked the film for us to see.  At the time, I knew nothing about what the film was about and had never heard of Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser, Randall Batinkoff or any of the other male actors that made up the cast.

The film was sort of a dream come true for the still in the closet guy on the date back then. Each male cast member more adorable than the next, chiseled jaws, great hair, and incredible bodies, showed off in the famous shower scene.  At the time, I crushed mostly over Randall and Brendan Fraser, although also thought Chris O'Donnell, Cole Hauser, Andrew Lowery and Anthony Rapp were hot.

Ben Affleck's role was quite minor and he didn't really peak my interest at the time.  Due to his fame after the release of School Ties, Affleck was placed more prominently in promotional and advertising, and covers for the film's release, but his role really wasn't that big.  I thought Matt Damon was adorable, especially his butt in the shower scene, but at the time was so turned off by his character's actions, wasn't a huge fan of the actor until seeing him in later projects.

Besides the brimming box of eye candy that School Ties was, I was also impacted by the subject matter.  Although very aware of the history of Jewish persecution, I hadn't really thought as  much about it as an ongoing issue that continued long after the end of the war.  The film helped me understand the systemic prejudice that continued, and even continues today, on full display of course by some of the actions and words of the current resident of The White House.

Although Batinkoff wasn't naked in that second shower scene, he was shirtless in an earlier scene.  Batinkoff also received a friendly squeeze from a shirtless, and buffed up Ben Affleck in the film's well remembered Smokey Joe's Cafe scene, which first introduced most of the male characters in a scene all together.

So.. that shower scene.  It was hard to sit still when I first saw it watching in the theatre, thank goodness it was dark and that my date as focused on the screen as I think I turned (or felt like I turned...) a bright red during the scene.

At the time, my focus was on Damon's cute butt, and a little distracted by the bubbles strategically place on Chris O'Donnell's butt, clearly at the actor's request to ensure his butt was not fully visible. Re-watching it again from Batinkoff' character's viewpoint, I got an entirely differen't, but equally enjoyable view.

Batinkoff's Rip got one of the best views of the shower, right there as Damon entered, dropped his towel and headed into the shower.  As the scene continued, Rip chatted with the naked Damon and Fraser, and the soapy O'Donnell and had a front row seat to the wet naked shower fight.  Rip also had the difficult (or enjoyable...) of grabbing the wet, naked Damon and holding back in his fight with Fraser.  Oh, if only there were some behind the scenes, or outtakes from this scene...