Brendan Fraser's Best Role Was a Criminally Underappreciated TV Cameo
Dr Percy Cox was a mainstay of Scrubs, appearing in almost every episode. Throughout his time on the show, he had plenty of ups and downs.
And one of the biggest downs was the death of his best friend Ben, played by Brandan Fraser.
Ben was the sister of Cox's wife/ex/wife/ex (let's just say things were a little complicated) Jordan. It was a stellar performance by Brendan Fraser and one which showed off his considerable acting abilities in a way that some of his more famous roles perhaps didn't.
While he only appeared in three episodes, Fraser was a key part of two of the most famous scenes in the history of the show – one hilarious and the other deeply moving.
Throughout his few episodes on the show, Ben frequently 'appeared' in the hospital where he would joke around and try to encourage Cox to calm down and grab a bit of 'me time'. And it was on one such occasion that he featured in the now famous 'puppet scene' in which he mimicked the movements of a colleague, making Cox laugh at what was a pretty inopportune moment.
Viewers would eventually come to realise that for much of the time, he wasn't really in the hospital at all and was just a figment of Cox's imagination. But that wasn't immediately obvious. When it does become clear, there is a poignancy to the scene that most people probably missed on first viewing.
The other unforgettable scene is widely regarded as a fitting end to one of the best episodes of Scrubs throughout its run – Ben's funeral.
There was very little humour in this one. When Ben appeared alongside Cox, viewers already knew that he wasn't really there. It was Fraser's final appearance in the show and a reminder of the intense bond between the two men that was so wonderfully portrayed in such a short amount of screen time. And it was hard not to get a lump in your throat when told Cox that he needed to forgive himself.
When asked by JD, "Where do we think we are?", Cox was brought back to reality.
But that final 'encounter' with his best buddy had had a profound impact on him and the episode finished with this man who found it so hard to open up, allowing himself to be comforted by others.
From the larking about to those tear-jerking moments, this was a role expertly played by Fraser – even if it was criminally underappreciated.