Brendan Fraser became emotional while talking about raising his autistic son and said despite struggling with his child’s diagnosis when he was just 22 months old, he “wouldn’t have it any other way.”
During a recent Sirius XM interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” the 54-year-old actor discussed being the father to 20-year-old son Griffin, recalling how he would give autistic people special attention at fan events, People magazine reported.
“No matter all of the noise surrounding the hysteria that goes into the whole celebrity bulls***, I always, always stop the train to have a moment with them,” Fraser explained.
“Because my oldest son is autistic, and I know how meaningful it is to their families and to them,” he added. “It means a lot to feel like you can gratify someone just by showing up, it means a lot.”
#BrendanFraser is opening up about his son's journey with Autism. pic.twitter.com/TFUqzxrrJ3
— Access Hollywood (@accesshollywood) February 8, 2023
“When I found out my kid’s diagnosis at 22 or 24 months, it was earlier on, [I was] crestfallen to say the least,” Fraser continued. “The first reaction that I had was, ‘I want to know how to fix this. What’s the cure? What does this mean?'”
“The Whale” star said it felt like he had been “hit with a baseball bat in the back of the side of the head,” and said he started blaming himself over the “reasons why,” thinking it was maybe his “genealogy” or because he “smoked weed in college.”
“It’s like trying to get a straight answer out of a f***ing leprechaun,” Fraser explained, adding that he eventually learned that it’s “for reasons unknown.”
“Then you learn quickly that I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he added. “This kid has the most joy onboard of anyone I know, and he happens to be related to me as my son. I want to know what he thinks is so gut-bustingly funny all day long, in a genuine way and he’s cracking himself up. He loves to go for a ride in the car. It doesn’t matter where you’re taking him.”
“He would sit on, he would go on a big airplane and ride commuter flights between here and Philly all day, if he could, because that’s what brings him joy,” Fraser continued.
Fraser shares three kids with ex-wife actress Afton Smith.