'George of the Jungle' star Brendan Fraser is back

Action and comedy star Brendan Fraser is back. The actor widely loved for his performances in Blast From The Past, George of the Jungle, and The Mummy trilogy shot to fame following big hits but also quietly disappeared.

The actor who recently made a comeback with The Whale, said: "I've never been that far away, but I did step out of the spotlight for a spell there to sort some things out in my life and to take stock of who I am, where I'm going, and what my aspirations are," he told E! News.

"I've learned that it's going to do me good to work smart instead of work hard."

"For that, I feel so much more receptive and gratitude for the positive attention that I'm receiving at this time," he said of the buzz surrounding his work in The Whale. "It's really humbling."

Fraser plays the role of an aloof English teacher struggling to make amends with his daughter, for which the actor has earned his first Oscar nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Fraser's film work diminished from the late 2000s to mid 2010s amid various health problems, personal losses, and an incident of sexual assault allegedly committed against him in 2003 by Philip Berk, the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.