Tragic Details About Brendan Fraser

Like all too many #MeToo stories, his experience with former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, had huge consequences for Brendan Fraser's personal wellbeing and subsequently, his career too. He told GQ that he "became depressed" and felt "reclusive," as he started to believe that he deserved what had happened. In the aftermath, Fraser said he struggled with maintaining his sense of self –- "Who I was and what I was doing," and he felt like his career had "withered on the vine." The experience left him with a sense of loss, or that "something had been taken away from [him]."

Adding to Fraser's fragility were his concerns that the altercation may have caused the HFPA to blacklist him. The actor suggested to the magazine that he was "rarely invited back" to the Golden Globe Awards beyond 2003. "I don't know if this curried disfavor with the group," he said, adding, "But the silence was deafening." Philip Berk denied that the group had retaliated and suggested that Fraser's "career declined through no fault of ours."

Regardless of what the truth of the matter was, there's no denying that 2003 marked the beginning of Fraser's steadily worsening career slump. "The phone does stop ringing in your career, and you start asking yourself why," he told GQ, "There's many reasons, but was this one of them? I think it was."

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

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