Brendan Fraser reveals actor still struggles with ‘confidence'

Brendan Fraser is getting honest about the doubts that still follow him, even after his big Hollywood comeback. 

The actor plays a struggling performer in his latest film Rental Family, now in theaters, and he admits the role hit close to home. 

Speaking to the Associated Press, Fraser joked that the character was a reminder to himself: “Don’t get too comfortable. It can happen to me.”

He shared that confidence has always been a personal battle. 

“I struggle with confidence,” Fraser said. 

“I always have the feeling of not being good enough. Believe me, no one can be harder on me than me. No critic, no pithy internet comment can be more biting to me than myself in my private thoughts.” 

Even after winning his 2023 Best Actor Oscar for The Whale, those feelings didn’t just vanish.

Fraser recalled a moment from one of his Saturday Night Live hosting gigs when Lorne Michaels told him, “You know, it’s all about confidence.”

The actor said he still thinks about that advice today. He added, “Forget everything you know and just own it. Can you do that is the question, the eternal one.”

Since winning the Oscar, Fraser said he wasn’t necessarily changed by the award, but the moment left him in a strange transition. 

“Honestly, I was kind of floating during that whole time without an agent,” he explained. 

He was searching for something meaningful when Rental Family came along. He even compared choosing the project to finding the imperfect but irresistible dog at the shelter.

Working on the film with writer-director Hikari also came at the right time. Fraser said the filmmaker “gave me the opportunity to kind of dovetail from whatever happens in the vacuum after you experience a recognition like that.” 

Taking on a role that required him to work in Japan was a welcome break.

He added that stepping away from Hollywood “was personally what I needed. I wanted to remove myself from whatever this place is, just for a while.”

Rental Family stars Mari Yamamoto, Takehiro Hira, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Akira Emoto alongside Fraser.