In a world of Robert Pattinsons, be a Brendan Fraser.

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It feels like the world has fallen in love with Brendan Fraser all over again, and frankly, I have been waiting 20 long years for this moment. The man who brought us George of The Jungle and The Mummy, is so back.

Hallelujah!

After his Oscar win for The Whale in 2023, the beloved actor is once again dominating the zeitgeist, with buzz around a potential Mummy 4 resurgence (the best news we've had all year) and excitement building for his new film, Rental Family.

But it's more than just his career momentum that has people captivated. There's a particular, undeniable obsession with Brendan Fraser right now, and the reason is beautifully simple: his profound, unironic earnestness.

In an age where many celebrities feel compelled to distance themselves from their early, often more populist work — think Rob Pattinson on Twilight or Jacob Elordi on The Kissing Booth — Fraser offers a profoundly refreshing counterpoint.

Watch: Brendan Fraser talking about The Mummy on The View. Article continues after video.

He doesn't just embrace the blockbuster that made him famous; he champions it. In a recent interview with Joshua Horowitz, he ranked The Mummy as his best film, placing it above the very performance that won him the Academy Award. 

I see no controversial statements here — The Mummy is literally a perfect film that prompted the bisexual awakening of an entire generation, but it did get me thinking.

This genuine affection for his own history is what truly sets him apart. It's a compelling lesson about why, in a world full of actors who are "too cool" for the projects that made them famous, we should all aspire to be a Brendan Fraser.

Image: Universal Pictures.

This phenomenon — where successful actors, particularly men, express palpable resentment or public detachment from their earlier, "lower brow" big-budget projects — is a curious study in Hollywood dynamics. 

But look closer, and a distinct, often uncomfortable pattern emerges: this snobbery is frequently and fiercely directed at projects with a strong, foundational appeal to women and girls.

The disdain cast by actors like Robert Pattinson towards the Twilight Saga, or Jacob Elordi's cool distance from The Kissing Booth — sentiments their female co-stars don't seem to share — isn't just about an actor maturing past a role; it often carries a subtle, yet unmistakable, implication that movies made for the girls are inherently less "serious," less "artistic," and ultimately, less worthy of a respected male actor's time.

Image: Summit Entertainment.

If the fanbase is predominantly female, the work is often implicitly — or explicitly — devalued. These films, which might involve romance or young adult narratives, are seen as emotional rather than intellectual.

The actors quickly move to prestige dramas, independent films, and auteur-driven projects, seeking to aggressively shed the pink sheen of their female-driven blockbusters. It's as if their credibility and future success are dependent on proving they were above the material that got them where they are.

In the past few years, Pattinson has slowly walked back his divisive comments about Twilight and has seemingly come to terms with its cult-classic status. Elordi, on the other hand, has been steadfast in his contempt for his Netflix trilogy.

"I didn't want to make those movies before I made those movies," he said to GQ in 2023. "Those movies are ridiculous. They're not universal. They're an escape."

Okay, then maybe you shouldn't have made them?

What makes this even more infuriating is that you rarely see women do this. And when she does, she is dragged over the coals for it. 

Remember when Katherine Heigl had the audacity to express her opinions about her projects? In 2008, Heigl made a series of comments about Grey's Anatomy, including her decision not to contend for an Emmy that year due to the fact that she wasn't "given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination." 

That same year, when asked about her film Knocked Up, she gave her honest opinion about the movie's commentary on women.

Image: Netflix.

"It was a little sexist," she told Vanity Fair.

"It paints the women as shrews, as humourless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight per cent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie."

Now, were some of these comments perhaps a bit pointed? Sure. Although I'd argue some of them are 100% valid. But the public shaming and black-listing that followed was swift and brutal. Her opinion, which would be praised as "artistic integrity" in a male actor, was weaponised against her, effectively forcing her into professional exile for over a decade.

And this is the core hypocrisy: while actors like Pattinson and Elordi can air their grievances about the 'guilty pleasure' projects that made them stars, Heigl was severely penalised for offering a critical, gender-aware perspective on her own successful work. 

This is precisely what makes Fraser's wholehearted pride in The Mummy so vital and refreshing.

The Mummy, while an action-adventure film, is also a fun, highly romantic, and enormously accessible movie with massive crossover appeal — it is pure, successful, unpretentious entertainment.

Image: Universal Pictures.

Fraser's deep passion and understanding of the cultural impact of a film that could so easily be dismissed as trivial by a lesser actor is the refreshing antidote to this gendered snobbery. 

"What I can say is that I know that I have been meeting fans for years coming through conventions and the number of — particularly young women — who have said, 'Brendan, I went into archeology, I became a librarian, I became an egyptologist because of that movie," Fraser said on The View when asked about the possibility of a fourth Mummy film.

He just gets it.

So, a message to men in Hollywood: do better. If you're about to open your mouth to unnecessarily and publicly hate on a project that put you on the map — don't.

That's right — don't be yourself. Be Brendan Fraser.

Feature Image: Getty.