Brendan Fraser lands first major role since Hollywood comeback

Actor who experienced an incredible career renaissance last year with role in ‘The Whale’ will travel to Japan for forthcoming comedy-drama

Brendan Fraser is set to star in the forthcoming comedy-drama Rental Family, marking his first major role since his incredible Hollywood comeback.

In March, the 51-year-old George of the Jungle actor – who had stepped out of the spotlight for several years – won his first Oscar for his leading role in Darren Aronosfky’s divisive drama, The Whale.

Months later, however, he revealed that he had been unemployed since his big career renaissance. Fraser explained at the time that he was “really being picky” with his future projects.

According to several reports, Searchlight’s newly acquired Rental Family, co-written by Japanese director Hikari (Beef), is the film he’s landed on.

The story follows a down-and-out actor living in Tokyo who is hired as the token American by a Japanese rental family company. He’s taken down a road of self-discovery as he fills different roles in peoples’ lives.

So far, Fraser is the only actor cast, with filming expected to take place in Japan next spring. A release date has not yet been announced.

Fraser did make a brief appearance as Hamilton, the bellowing and emotional lawyer in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, but Rental Family represents Fraser’s first major part since he won Best Actor at the 95th Academy Awards.

The Mummy actor starred as the dangerously obese recluse Charlie, who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter in Aronofsky’s drama.

Brendan Fraser (Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva)

Fraser’s emotional portrayal previously earned him lengthy standing ovations at film festivals in Venice and Toronto, and saw him receive the best reviews of his career. Read The Independent’s take here.

After an omnipresent run in the late Nineties and early Noughties, Fraser spent years dealing with personal issues including divorce, his mother’s death, health problems and an alleged assault by the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The alleged incident led Fraser to boycott the 2023 Golden Globes despite having been nominated in the Best Actor category.

Fraser broke out in the early 1990s with the comedy Encino Man and the drama School Ties, before going on to become a household name for George of the Jungle and The Mummy trilogy.

He also made dramatic turns in the 1998 horror Gods and Monsters, 2002 war thriller The Quiet American and 2006 Best Picture winner Crash.