Brendan Fraser Admits He Still 'Struggles With Confidence' Despite Oscar Win

By Favour Adegoke on November 30, 2025 at 9:30 PM EST

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Brendan Fraser has racked up several acting awards since his career revival, but he still struggles with the feeling of "not being good enough."

The actor recently admitted that he has "confidence" issues even after recording a massive success with his Oscar win.

Brendan Fraser won't stop putting in the work, though, and had to learn Japanese to really take in their way of life for a new film.

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Brendan Fraser 'Struggles With Confidence' After Oscar Win

Brendan Fraser
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In a recent interview with Associated Press, the 2023 Best Actor Oscar winner shared that he "still struggles with confidence," while promoting his new film "Rental Family."

In the Hikari-directed movie, Fraser plays the role of an American actor working odd jobs in Tokyo, Japan. Joking about his character during the interview, he noted that the role helps him stay grounded.

"Don't get too comfortable. It can happen to me," Fraser stated before going on to share his battle with self-doubt.

"I  struggle with confidence," he continued. "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," the 56-year-old added.

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The Actor Says He 'Grapples With Overcoming' Self-Doubt

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Fraser's career resurgence has been one of the most incredible comebacks with his role on Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale," however, this has not been able to help him be confident again.

Speaking further about his struggles with self-doubt, the actor reiterated, "I grapple with overcoming that," before going on to recall when he hosted "Saturday Night Live" and got somewhat spooked by producer Lorne Michaels' comments about being confident.

Fraser recounted how Michaels told him, "'You know, it's all about confidence.' I don't know if that psyched me up or not."

He continued, "Forget everything you know and just own it. Can you do that is the question, the eternal one."

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Brendan Fraser Opens Up About The Huge Sacrifice He Made To Play The New Role

Brendan Fraser
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Meanwhile, to get the new movie role, Fraser had to make a lot of sacrifices as he immersed himself in Japanese culture.

During a September post-screening Q&A session, he revealed that he had to learn the language for the movie.

While he noted that he's "not a very good student," Fraser stressed that he is "an excellent mimic."

"So what you, of course, didn't see through the magic of editing, people were feeding me lines as I was making them sound as if they were my own," he revealed, per People Magazine.

Fraser added that he became "really good at it really fast," and that his Japanese castmates "took such good care of me" while they were filming in the country.

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How The Actor Overcame The Language Barrier

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On how he tackled the language barrier, Fraser shared that "the fundamentals" he learned as an acting student helped him power through.

According to the movie star, "It doesn't matter what you're saying verbally — it's the intention behind it, and we should be able to communicate with one another no matter what languages we speak."

He noted that although it's not an "easy" feat to accomplish when it comes to communication, "if we all just try, we're gonna understand each other a little bit better."

"That's what I took away from it, and my gratitude and love to all my fellow cast members," the actor concluded.

"Rental Family" 's cast includes Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Gorman, and Akira Emoto.

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Brendan Fraser Made A Huge Hollywood Comeback After Disappearing Following A Sexual Assault Incident

Brendan Fraser out and about in New York
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Fraser withdrew from Hollywood after going public with an alleged sexual assault that happened between him and Philip Berk.

At the time, he alleged that Berk, who's the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, groped him at a luncheon in 2003.

In a 2022 interview with CBS News, he was asked if the alleged assault "derailed" his career.

"Well, yes, because there's a system in place that is about power. And I had played by the rules up until that point," Fraser replied. "I felt like, Ok, now, suddenly, I've been violated. And it has gone too far. And I will no longer abide this."

Years after the sexual assault incident, the actor came forward with what had happened to him in a 2018 GQ article, crediting the #MeToo movement at the time for inspiring him to speak out.

Fraser has since come back to the acting scene stronger, thanks to his critically acclaimed performance in "The Whale."

The Darren Aronofsky film, about a 600-pound man trying to fix his relationship with his estranged daughter, received a lot of praise, notably a six-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022.

It also earned Fraser his first-ever Oscar nomination and win for Best Lead Actor, along with other notable nods.

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