Great news for fans of Brendan Fraser, the actor is set to play Robotman/Cliff Steele in the DC Universe’s upcoming live-action series Doom Patrol.
The 49-year-old actor will play former race car driver Steele, whose brain lives in a state-of-the-art robotic body following a horrific car crash.
Fraser will provide the voice for Robotman and will also appear in flashback scenes as the tainted Cliff Steele.
Riley Shanahan has also been cast as Robotman but will play the physical role in full body costume.
Written by Jeremy Carver, Doom Patrol is a reboot of one of DC’s most eclectic group of outcasts: Robotman (Fraser), Negative Man, Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero). It’s all spearheaded by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder, and they’re called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg (Joivan Wade).
Carver executive produces with Geoff Johns, Berlanti and Berlanti Prods’ Sarah Schechter. Berlanti Productions produces in association with Warner Bros Television, Deadline reports.
Fraser is best known for his role as Richard ‘Rick’ O’Connell in The Mummy trilogy as well as leading roles in George of the Jungle (1997), Bedazzled (2000), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008).
Taking a break from movies, Fraser moved to television where he found success in shows such as Texas Rising, Showtime drama The Affair and most recently the FX anthology series Trust.
However, in a bold and deeply personal interview with GQ earlier this year, Fraser said the movie industry had blacklisted him after he came forward with an allegation of sexual abuse made against Philip Berk – the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) – who organised the Golden Globe Awards.
Speaking about the incident which is said to have taken place in 2003 at a HFPA luncheon, Fraser described what he alleged happened as he shook hands with Berk.
He said:
His left hand reaches around, grabs my ass cheek and one of his fingers touches me in the taint – and he starts moving it around.
I felt ill. I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry. I became depressed. I was blaming myself and I was miserable — because I was saying, ‘this is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel’.
It made me retreat. It made me feel reclusive.
I don’t know if this curried disfavour with the group, with the HFPA, but the silence was deafening.
Deciding at the time not to make the incident public, Fraser received a written apology but felt himself shut out from the HFPA and Golden Globes, wondering if he’d been shunned altogether.
Berk, who’s still a HFPA member, disputed Fraser’s account in a statement given to GQ, which read:
Mr. Fraser’s version is a total fabrication. My apology admitted no wrongdoing, the usual ‘If I’ve done anything that upset Mr. Fraser, it was not intended and I apologise.
His career declined through no fault of ours.
Fraser said he ‘feels a lot better now’ despite the alleged incident.
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