Russell Crowe tells Jimmy Fallon 'Gladiator' script was 'so bad' that he didn't think film could be a hit
Actor-producer-musician Russell Crowe was on 'The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon' on Wednesday night. He spoke to Fallon about his new film 'Unhinged', which will be the first film to release theatrically post-pandemic on July 10, across the country. He also spoke about his iconic film 'Gladiator' which he felt was very bad, the first time he read its script.
Recalling the film which is now three months shy of celebrating its 20th anniversary, Crowe said, "Gladiator is a unique experience because the script I had was so bad. It was just so bad". Fallon couldn't believe what he just heard and asked him 'Yeah?' to which Crowe replied, 'Yeah'. The latter continued saying, "But the producer didn't know I had already been able to get a copy. He said I don't want to send the document we have because you won't respond to it. But I want to encourage you to have a meeting with Ridley Scott (director) and here is the thing I want you to think about - it's 1880, you are a Roman General and you are been directed by Ridley Scott just think about that."
Fallon later asked Crowe if he thought the movie would be a hit to which the latter responded jokingly, "Not on the first day man." However, things changed later for Crowe and his faith in the movie grew. "I definitely felt the collective energy of that cast was fantastic. There were great English actors like Derek Jacobi, Oliver Reed, David Hemmings and then there were actors like Tomas Arana, Djimon Hounsou, and then you've got Connie Nielsen with the best performance, you got Joaquin Pheonix. smashing open anybody's assumption of what a character like that could be."
"20 years later people are still talking about it. It doesn't happen with every movie..when ridley and I sit and talk about it the main thing we do is laugh about what we got away with. Ridley's attitude is like how many bullets did we dodge in one movie and when it came out it was not only successful it was the best film, it got the Oscar you know," Crowe said.
Speaking about his movie 'Unhinged' that releases theatrically on July 10 he said, "It's one of those films on the surface it seems a particular type of genre but it also has extreme resonance with the times we find ourselves in. We seem to have gotten to a point in history where it's really difficult for people who hold different views to have any type of polite conversation"
Crowe also said he was sure he didn't want to do the movie when he first read the script which he called "extreme". However, when he started telling his actor friends about the script and their positive response helped Crowe come to a certain realization post which he agreed to sign on the dotted line.
"What I came to realize is I simply was afraid of it because it was so true at its essence. There are people who allow the events of their life to strip them of their humanity and act out against others and we are seeing more and more of that with mass shootings and other (events) and it's a real thing in our society and its something that should be put on the table and discussed and broken down and hopefully eliminated," he said in conclusion.