Eventually, though, the movies came to him. Casting director Sharon Bialy was in
town, scouting for a film to be called Bound By Honour. Brendan auditioned, but
wasn't right for the Latino kid role she hoped to fill (in fact, the film was
never made). However, she did notice that this "very shy, very gawky" boy seemed
to come alive during the reading and she suggested he visit her if he ever came
to Los Angeles. Perhaps she could introduce him to some agents, find him some
auditions.
Brendan decided to give it a go. Turning down a second year's internship at the
Intiman, and also a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, in January 1991 he borrowed his mother's car and took
off for the City of Angels
Finding work straight away, he made
his debut in Dogfight. Set in 1963, this concerned a group of young Marines
spending their last night in San Francisco before departing for Vietnam.
Boys being boys, they arrange a "dogfight", a competition to see who can
bring the ugliest girl to a party. The star, River Phoenix, picks on
waitress Lili Taylor but, of course, discovers that she's actually quite
beautiful. Brendan had a brief, one-line part as a sailor. But what a line
it was - "How would you like to eat my shit?"This would be another turning point for Fraser. Still
convinced that film acting was a lowly pursuit, he'd expected Phoenix to be
empty-headed and arrogant. Instead, he'd found him to be sweet and helpful,
qualities that finally broke down Brendan's Cornish-bred attitude.Quickly, TV work came his way. He had another small role in Child Of
Darkness, Child Of Light, where a Catholic priest, investigating two
immaculate conceptions, discovers that one of the children is God's kid, and
the other the Devil's. But which is which, and
can he find out before Satan's little helpers come a-knocking? After this came
a far beefier role, as the troubled adopted son of Martin Sheen and Caroline
Kava in Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Convicted of a murder he didn't commit,
he must first convince Sheen of his innocence, then pray to be rescued. Next
came My Old School, a pilot that proved barren.
1992 would be something of a breakthrough year. First came Encino Man, where
Sean Astin and MTV-comic Pauly Shore discover a caveman, reanimate him, call
him Link and introduce him to contemporary Californian culture, in the hope
that their unusual new friend will bring popularity their way. It was pretty
tepid stuff, but Brendan used his training in physical acting to proper
effect as the charmingly innocent Neanderthal, making the film an unexpected
hit. In the next couple of years, he'd make cameos in two more Shore
vehicles - Son In Law and In The Army Now - both times as characters named
Link.The same year brought another success, School Ties, actually filmed before
Encino Man. Such was Brendan's charisma at the audition that the casting
director claimed the hairs stood up on the back of their neck for the first
time since an early view of Bruce Willis, a decade previously. The movie
took Brendan back to the Fifties, as a kid brought into an elite prep school
on a football scholarship so he can help the school beat their deadliest
rivals. Trouble is, Brendan's Jewish - not a popular persuasion at the time
- and, though he hides the fact, it comes out when he fights with
mean-spirited rival Matt Damon over both a girl and the prime quarter-back
position.School Ties, also featuring Ben Affleck and Chris O'Donnell, was not a hit
at the time, though it received good reviews for its sensitive perspective.
Later, it would find cult status amongst teenagers raised on such shows as
Dawson's Creek.
