The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) bestows the Academy Award for Best Actor on a yearly basis. This year, the Oscar for best actor went to Brendon James Fraser, an American-Canadian actor, born on December 3, 1968. He has carved a niche for himself by starring in a diverse range of blockbuster, comedic, and dramatic films.
Fraser graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 1990 and made his foray into acting with his 1991 debut film, Dogfight, in which he portrayed a seaman preparing to embark on his mission to Vietnam. Fraser's breakthrough came with the 1992 comedy Encino Man, in which he essayed the role of a frozen prehistoric caveman who is thawed out in contemporary times. This marked his first starring role in a film, which enjoyed moderate success at the box office. Subsequently, he co-starred in School Ties (1992) with Matt Damon and Chris O'Donnell, laying the foundation for a prolific career.
Fraser's career trajectory was beset by a string of health challenges, personal hardships, and the fallout from an alleged sexual assault by the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, which culminated in a marked slowdown of his film work from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s. However, he ventured into television with parts in notable shows such as The Affair (2016–2017), Trust (2018), Texas Rising (2015), and Doom Patrol (2019–present) on HBO Max-DC Universe, as a means to keep his career afloat.
Fraser's fortunes began to turn around when he landed crucial roles in films directed by renowned auteurs, including Steven Soderbergh's No Sudden Move (2021) and Darren Aronofsky's The Whale (2022), which served to revive his acting career. Fraser's spellbinding performance in the former earned him a spate of prestigious nominations, including the BAFTA Film Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Critics' Choice Movie Award, the Academy Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award.
