"After I graduated, my father thought I might get a job as a weathercaster at the local television station, because that's about how good he thought I was,' Fraser recalled.  " I just happened to have higher standards.  My mother supported me and adored what I did."        In 1991, Fraser won an acting scholarship to Southern Methodist University and decided to move to Texas. But two weeks before he was  to leave, he landed a small role in Dogfight, starring River Phoenix.  It changed his views about acting.     "I had a lot of hostility in those days," Fraser said, "this attitude drummed into me about the purity of stage actors unlike those on the screen.  In acting school, success in movies was seen as somehow despicable.  And them I met River Phoenix.  He said, 'I'm sorry we didn't get to work together tonight.'  So gracious, and in a moment that little bubble of hostility popped.  There was just an infinite possibility in that mans' gaze.  I admired his work."

Two years later, Phoenix died of a drug overdose on a Los Angeles sidewalk at the age of 23.  "I didn't really know him," Fraser admitted, "but I went to his memorial service.  I felt I had to be there."     Fraser never made it to Texas.  He soon had an agent and contracts for two television pilots.  In 1992, he was cast as the lead in Encino Man, and School Ties.  The     roles led to other films, including With Honors (1994), The Scout (1994) and The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995).  After only six years in Hollywood, Fraser was commanding $10.5 million a film.     In person, Brendan Fraser displays many of the qualities that draw audiences to him.  He is 6 feet 3, blue-eyed, handsome and very polite.  He possesses a gentleness---a sweetness---that suggests an innocence about life, as if he still believes the best about people and is genuinely surprised then they let him down.  It is this aspect of his character, coupled with a boyish sense of wonder, that makes the man---and the characters he plays---endearing.      In 1993, Fraser met Afton Smith at a July 4th barbecue and fell in love.  I inquired about her.      He grinned.  "I feel safe with her," he declared.  "I belong because of the strength that our relationship gives us in completing aspects of our souls.  She has hands that are unafraid."      In 1998, Fraser took a photo of the two of them on the Pont des Artistes in Paris with a self-timing camera and handed it to her.  The photograph showed the couple standing together, Frasers' jacket held open by the wind.  Pinned to the lining was a piece of paper that said, "Marry me."  Afton Smith said "yes."       Now that he has become a major film star, does Fraser feel any responsibility that comes with his success?       He thought for a moment.  "I know how lucky I am," said Fraser.  "I'm living the dream that I imagined.  I believe you have a responsibility to comport yourself in a manner that gives an example to others.  As a young man, I prayed for success.  Now I pray just to be worthy of it."