Brendan Fraser is a prime example of the consequences of a single terrible day leading to a lifetime of combating depression and a nightmare career.

People often stop to reflect on the level of control trauma has on one’s brains while contemplating the impossibility of their circumstances and the absolutes that put them there.

But, The Mummy star is no longer allowing his past to govern his life, and taking control of his story may be the finest thing that happened last year.

Brendan Fraser wins Best Actor for his comeback film.

What better way to make a comeback statement than winning Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards? Every eye is drawn to the man who vanished from public view nearly two decades ago and stayed so until recently.

Brendan Fraser’s popularity expands by leaps and bounds as he makes more public appearances, far beyond the limitations defined by his humility and talent.

Fraser deservingly takes home the top prize at this year’s Critics Choice Awards for his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale.

The School Ties actor plays a grotesquely obese gay guy seeking forgiveness by reconnecting with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink).

The Whale represents Fraser’s return to mainstream cinema after nearly two decades on the sidelines.

Ke Huy Quan, the young actor who began to realize his Hollywood dream by acting opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, also appeared in Encino Man (1992) for a few scenes alongside the industry’s blue-eyed boy, Brendan Fraser.

But it was enough time for Fraser to bond with his youthful co-star, who would make a stunning comeback 30 years later in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

When the two actors reunited on The Hollywood Reporter’s Actor Roundtable, a few tears were shed in the nostalgia produced when Ke Huy Quan didn’t hold back in appreciating Brendan Fraser’s magnificence and humility.

The love and adoration grew stronger when the former raced to the latter in a room full of Hollywood A-listers to hug Fraser, shake his hand, and congratulate him.

This moment undoubtedly took the cake in the ensuing festivities after Brendan Fraser’s heart-breaking victory speech had wrung tears and a standing ovation from the audience present.

And it felt amazing to see the two actors get a second opportunity at their goal while remaining unblemished and untainted by the industry’s corruption.