The movie Brendan Fraser called “a benchmark” in his career: “I feel it is very important”
Currently on top of the world after crowning his comeback by reaching the pinnacle of the industry, Brendan Fraser survived plenty of personal and professional hardships to emerge on the other side, with his star burning as brightly as ever.
At the turn of the millennium, he broke out in a major way with his charming, charismatic, and action-packed Rick O’Connell, ultimately enshrining The Mummy as one of the most beloved blockbusters of the last quarter of a century, but that sort of momentum is very hard to maintain in Hollywood.
While Fraser did showcase his chops as a versatile dramatic talent, when it came to trying to capitalise on his leading man status, the box office returns gradually chipped away at his A-list status. Dudley Do-Right, Monkeybone, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action all bombed hard within four years of The Mummy, but of course, that wasn’t the only reason his career suffered.
Fraser has always been open in discussing the reasons why he fell out of the picture, but his transformative turn in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale put him right back at the summit, winning him the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ and igniting a renaissance that couldn’t have been more deserved.
There have been several milestone moments in a screen career that stretches back almost 35 years, and he’s not even alone when it comes to naming The Quiet American as one of them. Michael Caine maintains that it’s the best work he’s ever done on-screen, and Fraser was equally effusive of the material in an interview that saw him echo his veteran co-star’s opinion.
“It’s a good film, a good film even before the mirroring of political events of the day,” he explained to the BBC. “It’ll be a good film in ten or 20 years, when hopefully people will still be watching it. What it is, is a benchmark in my career, and definitely in Michael’s, too. It has yet to be revealed, but I feel it is very important.”
Caine was openly disappointed that he was the only person involved with the literary adaptation on either side of the camera to receive any recognition from the biggest awards ceremonies on the calendar, with the two-time Oscar winner regularly singling out The Quiet American as the finest feature he’s been able to take part in.
Clearly, Fraser was of a very similar mind in celebrating its artistic and thematic merits as being a professional benchmark, even if the Academy didn’t think it was worth more than a solitary nomination for its leading man. Of course, the legacy of any movie isn’t necessarily defined by how many tickets it sells or how many trophies it takes home, with the effusive praise of the two top-billed names in the cast enough to establish The Quiet American as a hugely important moment for both of them.
