It is a truism to say that the Academy loves a comeback, but at this year’s Oscars it reached a fever pitch: all four acting awards were won by screen veterans who, until now, had never won – or even been nominated for – an Academy Award.
There was Brendan Fraser, who broke out in roles such as a reanimated Neanderthal in Encino Man (1992) and a lovable woodwose in George of the Jungle (1997), before cementing himself as the defining hunk of the 90s with his windswept explorer in 1999’s The Mummy.
