Brendan Fraser was joined by two chips off the old block at the premiere of his latest movie last night, in the form of his teenage sons Leland and Holden Fraser.
The actor was promoting his awards-season favorite The Whale in New York on Tuesday night. His movie was a hit during the film festival season and will finally release to the general public on December 9.
The event was a family affair for Fraser who took his family to see the movie with him. The two boys were photographed on the red carpet and posed with their dad, while movie talent Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3), director Darren Aronofsky and writer Samuel D. Hunter were there too.
Who are Brendan Fraser's children?
The star of movies like The Mummy, George of the Jungle and Journey to the Center of the Earth has three children, all boys born in the mid-2000s.
Brendan's middle and youngest sons, Holden Fletcher Fraser (born 2004) and Leland Francis Fraser (born 2006) attended The Whale premiere with him on Tuesday. In the photographs, Leland is the one with long auburn hair, while Holden has shorter dark hair.
The actor's oldest son Griffin Arthur Fraser (born 2002) was absent from the event. Fraser has opened up about his eldest son's health struggles recently, revealing he's obese and on the autism spectrum. In an interview with Freddie Prinze Jr. in Interviews Magazine, Fraser said: "My oldest son Griffin has special needs. He's autistic. He just turned 20. He's a big kid. He's six foot five. He's got big hands and feet, a big body."
He continued: "And because of the beauty of his spectrum—call it a disorder if you will, I disagree with you—he knows nothing of irony. He doesn't know what cynicism is. You can't insult him. He can't insult you. He's the happiest person and is, in my life and many others', also the manifestation of love."
The mother of Fraser's three children is ex-wife Afton Smith. They married in September 1998 but it was announced in December 2007 that they had decided to divorce.
The actor has been joined by his partner Jeanne Moore at several premiere events for The Whale, and she also joined him at the New York premiere on Tuesday night.
What is The Whale movie?
Brendan Fraser has enjoyed something of a career revival in recent years. He took a long break from movies but appeared in a number of TV shows during that time.
In 2021 it was announced he'd be starring in the movie adaption of the successful stage play The Whale. He plays Charlie, a morbidly obese English professor trying to connect with his bitter daughter Ellie (Sink).
The original play and the movie adaptation were written by Hunter, while Aronofsky directs. Hong Chau and Samantha Morten also co-star in the upcoming movie.
After the first trailer was released, The Whale came in for criticism for its use of a "fat suit." Both Aronofsky and Fraser responded to the backlash and told Newsweek why it was a necessary tool.
"I'm not a small man. And I don't know what the metric is to qualify to play the role. I only know that I had to give as honest a performance as I can," Fraser said in October.
"There's no way you can cast someone to play this job, so we had to use makeup to get there," Aronofsky added.
The Whale will launch in movie theaters on December 9.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
