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Our Critic Picks Brendan Fraser’s 10 Best Films

Catch up on everything from ‘The Mummy’ to ‘The Whale’ and beyond

Chris Nashawaty,

AARP

Published January 20, 2026

brendan fraser in a scene from rental family

A scene from the movie "Rental Family," staring Brendan Fraser.

Courtesy Searchlight Pictures

Before his Oscar-winning performance as a haunted, housebound father in 2022’s The Whale, actor Brendan Fraser put in 30 solid years of work in movies big and small. Here are the essential films from his long and varied career.

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Matt Damon, Randall Batinkoff and Brendan Fraser in a scene from School Ties

Matt Damon, Randall Batinkoff and Brendan Fraser in "School Ties."

Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

School Ties (1992)

His breakout film feels like a cousin to another prep-school coming-of-age drama from the era, 1989’s Dead Poets Society. The cast is loaded with young actors, then on the brink of stardom, including Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. But it’s Fraser who aces the trickiest role: a Jewish student trying to hide his religion.

Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser in a scene from Gods and Monsters

Lions Gate/courtesy Everett Collecti / Everett Collection

Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser in "Gods and Monsters."

Gods and Monsters (1998)

After a string of disposable big-studio comedies, Fraser switched things up with this poignant indie about a macho gardener who forms an unlikely friendship with a gay, retired Hollywood director (Ian McKellen, 86) in his final days. Here, Fraser proved he was an actor and not just a pretty movie star. “It’s the one movie I wish more people had seen,” he told me.

Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Fraser in a scene from Blast from the Past

Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Fraser in "Blast from the Past."

New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection

Blast from the Past (1999)

This fish-out-of-water comedy sounds pretty broad on paper — a guy who grew up in a bomb shelter now has to figure out the world outside (a world that includes Alicia Silverstone, 51) — but Fraser’s surprisingly sensitive turn elevates the high-concept premise into something much more interesting.

John Hannah, Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser in a scene from The Mummy

John Hannah, Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser in "The Mummy."

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Mummy (1999)

Welcome to the big leagues. Fraser’s first megablockbuster is pure razzle-dazzle eye candy. With a nod to Indiana Jones, Fraser is a treasure hunter who partners with a fearless librarian (Rachel Weisz, 55) and awakens an ancient Egyptian entity they should have left sleeping. It led to two sequels, with another on the way.

Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser in a scene from Bedazzled

Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser in "Bedazzled."

Alamy Stock Photo

Bedazzled (2000)

This remake of a beloved Dudley Moore/Peter Cook comedy doesn’t have the same laughing-gas lunacy as the 1967 original, but it does have the chameleonic Fraser giving a variety of interesting performances as a nerdy IT worker who is granted seven wishes by a sex-bomb version of the devil (Elizabeth Hurley, 60).

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Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser and Do Thi Hai Yen in a scene from The Quiet American

Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser and Do Thi Hai Yen in "The Quiet American."

Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Quiet American (2002)

This prestige adaptation of Graham Greene’s classic novel about love and politics in Southeast Asia gives Fraser a taste of what it’s like to spar with a true acting heavyweight (Michael Caine, 92). He acquits himself beautifully as a rah-rah American with a savior complex in early-1950s Saigon.

Larenz Tate, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser and Ludacris in a scene from Crash

Larenz Tate, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges in "Crash."

Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

Crash (2004)

This topical, multistrand best picture Oscar winner hasn’t aged all that well, to be honest. But there’s no denying the authenticity of Fraser’s portrayal of a district attorney whose racist wife (Sandra Bullock, 61) is the victim of a carjacking. In an ensemble packed with A-list stars, Fraser makes the most of his moments.

Brendan Fraser in a scene from The Whale

Brendan Fraser in "The Whale."

A24/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Whale (2022)

And the Oscar goes to … Thirty years after the release of School Ties, Fraser earned best actor for his heartbreaking, transformative performance as a 600-pound gay shut-in desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink) before it’s too late. The role of his lifetime … so far.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

“Working with Martin Scorsese!” erupted Fraser when I mentioned Killers. “I had to pinch myself.” Within months of winning the Academy Award for Whale, Fraser’s next film arrived in theaters: an epic true-crime period piece about a rash of Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma. Fraser lets it fly as the opportunistic, blowhard lawyer defending a murderous land baron (Robert De Niro, 82).

Brendan Fraser in "Rental Family."

Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Rental Family (2025)

Fraser channels vulnerability and kindness as a struggling expat actor in Tokyo who goes to work for a rental-family service that hires performers to pretend to be friends and relatives. A small, smart, emotionally satisfying movie that deserves a wide audience.

Chris Nashawaty, former film critic for Entertainment Weekly, is the author of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story and a contributor to Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

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