RUSSELL CROWE TV INTERVIEW
Good Morning America

May 1, 2000

With: Diane Sawyer

Diane Sawyer: And joining us now, the Roman general himself: Russell Crowe. ÔStrength and honor' is his code. Are these the kind of heroes you grew up loving? Is that why he mattered?

Russell: Umm, well, when I was a little kid,Ê I didn't think in terms of realism when I wanted to become an actor. I thought in terms of Robin Hood and legendary figures. So it's taken me... let's see, my first job was in 1970, so it's taken me ...

DS: (laughing) You were six years old?

RC: Thirty years to play that kind of character. Yeah, yeah; first time I did a TV show. But, umm... yeah. I mean, he's the sort of hero that... although he's flawed. I mean, he is a bestial man (laughs). He, uhh... will cleave your arm off if that is what he's required to do.

DS: Hey. Details.

RS: (laughs)

DS: The fact is, you and I were talking about this: there is something about this that is an intensely moral experience. In a way that you don't see in a lot of movies, particularly "cyber"-surrounded movies. In which, this is a real man who had to do epically-courageous things. And it's based, if not on history, it's based on an idea for Roman times.

RC: It's a Roman history but Maximus, the character, is completely fictional. But the time, the setting, the political intrigue behind the story: that's all historically correct.

DS: You went, according to Ridley Scott, from a paunchy, middle-aged man you were playing in "The Insider"... 38 pounds later, you are "unfakable male", I believe I read in one of the reviews.

RC: (laughs)

DS: What is "unfakable maleness"? (laughs; RC smiles) Is that just an "Aussie bloke"?

RC: I'm not sure. (Laughs) It's somebody else's line.

DS: Is the physical part of this... when you see this film, do you remember, physically, the pain of doing this movie? Because it seems you were in endlessly-difficult physical challenges.

RC: Yeah, it was pretty intense. Y'know, the first battle sequence took place in about 2 foot of mud because it snowed the morning that we shot it. So, uhh... trying to get around to 16, 17 different opponents, with horses going past and catapults going off and dogs jumping through the frame and everything. It was a little tricky. At one point in time there,Ê because of the mud, people were just getting caught-up and not actually hitting their marks and the battle was over. And the bodies were on the ground, the steam is coming from the bodies and everybody's sorta, like, heaving that thing. (Gesturing with his hands) I'm walking down through the bodies and, just naturally, all the other Roman soldiers sorta came to join Maximus and it's just "wow"- this is a glorious moment.

And, through the middle of it, this one German extra, who'd missed his mark, he starts running, trying to run past. So I grabbed him (laughs), Ôcause I'm not gonna let him get past me at that moment. I pulled him in front of me and he looks up at me, with this plaintive voice, with his back to the camera and he goes, (in a high voice) "I'm not supposed to die yet!"Ê
Ê

DS: (laughs)

RC: (makes a motion of drawing a sword, stabbing the extra through and laying him aside.)Ê

(DS and the camera crew erupt in laughter.)Ê

RC: So there was a touch of Monty Python.Ê

DS: Well, which brings me, sort of indirectly, to what we were talking about. In Time Magazine it says that you, on the set, were also "all-warrior, hard-drinking perfectionist", re-writing the script on the spot. What is this about? What ...

RC: (clears throat. Seems a little impatient with the question.)

DS: Is this Ôtemperament'? What is this?

RC: Well, it's about wanting to get things right. I mean, we went into this journey together, myself and Ridley, without a completed script, y'know. But we had all the same, scheduling pressures. But, uhh... normally, I'm very finicky about that; in terms, I've got to, like, read the work that's been done on the page. Like in a Michael Mann script,Ê he's been working on it for five years, such as "The Insider."Ê

But, umm... y'know, Dreamworks is a company that, in their short history, they're very well-known for putting the money they spend on the screen.Ê Ridley is one of the great visual stylists of our time. I mean, "Blade Runner", "Alien" . So if you're ever gonna take, y'know, a leap of faith and get involved in something that's not completely right... The time period. I gotta wear all these flash clothes. Y'know, it's very hard to be masculine when you're running around in a skirt but, I do my best.

(DS and camera crew laughs.)

RC: And, it was just the right time to take that sort of leap of faith.

DS: So when you wake up in the morning, do you say, "I've got a hit. It's a sweet day."

RC: I don't know about that yet, the film hasn't opened. It's all very nice getting the reviews and everything ...

DS: You superstitious?

RC: Yeah. Absolutely. I'll just wait and see what happens.

DS: Alright. I think, I think you're gonna be happy. Russell Crowe, so good to see you.

RC: Nice talkin' to ya.

DS: Great to have you here.