Fraser's film work slowed from the late 2000s to mid-2010s due to poor box office performances, and various health and personal issues, including the fallout from a sexual assault committed against him in 2003 by Philip Berk, the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Fraser's starring role as an obese gay man in the latter earned him critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor – the first time a Canadian had won it.

[citation needed] While on vacation in London, England, in the 1970s, he attended his first professional theatre show, Oliver!, in the West End, which sparked his interest in acting.

Fraser had planned on studying toward a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from Southern Methodist University, but after visiting Hollywood, he decided instead to move there to pursue work in film.

[28] Between 1994 and 1996, he starred in several box office failures such as With Honors (1994) with Joe Pesci, Airheads (1994) with Steve Buscemi & Adam Sandler, The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996) and The Twilight of the Golds (1997).

[citation needed] Fraser performed at his first theatre production in 1995 at the Geffen Playhouse, taking on the role of Victor in John Patrick Shanley's Four Dogs and a Bone.

[30] He had his first major box office success with the 1997 comedy film George of the Jungle[31] which was based on the animated series of the same title created by Jay Ward.

He received critical acclaim for his dramatic role in 1998's Gods and Monsters, which was based on the life of James Whale (Ian McKellen), who directed Frankenstein.

[35] In late 2001, Fraser starred as "Brick" in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Anthony Page.

In 2004, he appeared as part of an ensemble cast in the Academy Award-winning film Crash where he played the husband to Sandra Bullock's character as the District Attorney of Los Angeles.

[41] After appearing in the critically panned Furry Vengeance in 2010, Fraser moved from being represented by William Morris Endeavor to the Creative Artists Agency.

[47] Fraser later joined the recurring cast of the television drama series The Affair during season 3 where he portrayed the misery-minded prison guard Gunther.

He reprised the role in the spin-off series Doom Patrol, where he voices the character and appears as Steele in flashbacks; Riley Shanahan – replacing Jake Michaels in Titans – physically portrays Robotman.

[52][53][54] Aronofsky stated he had looked for the lead role in the movie for a decade, and decided to cast Fraser after seeing him in the trailer of the low-budget Brazilian film Journey to the End of the Night.

Fraser spoke on preparing for the role with The New York Times stating, "The Obesity Action Coalition gave me access to many people, so I could ask them their story on Zoom calls.

"[56] Fraser's performance was highly praised and the film received a six-minute standing ovation at the festival[57] and subsequently won him an Oscar for Best Actor.

[65] On July 4, 1993, shortly after he had arrived in Los Angeles, Fraser met his future wife, actress Afton Smith, at a barbecue at Winona Ryder's house.

[74] In late 2011, Smith accused Fraser of fraudulently failing to disclose some of his financial assets, including contracts for two films: Extraordinary Measures and Furry Vengeance.

The couple made their red-carpet debut at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and Fraser expressed his gratitude to Moore during his acceptance speech for the Oscar for Best Actor at the 95th Academy Awards.

[81] In 2018, Fraser said publicly that, at a luncheon in 2003, he had been sexually assaulted by Philip Berk, the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the nonprofit organization that votes for the Golden Globe Awards.

[82][83][84] The stress he experienced from a succession of events, including his divorce, his health problems, the death of his mother, and making the alleged assault public, plunged Fraser into a major depression that led to a break in his career.

"[87] In 2022, Fraser told GQ that if the HFPA nominated him for a Golden Globe at that year for his most recent film, The Whale, he would "not participate" because of his "history" with the organization.