PREACH IT! Which is hotter, Russell Crowe’s face, or his temper?
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Recently one of my readers wrote in to ask me if I thought Russell Crowe had finally mellowed out. You know, given up on the phone throwing and the cussing and the general scrumming.
The answer? Not so much.
Many inconveniences have set off Crowe in the past, including a hotel concierge who once declined to help him make a phone call. Now we may add another flashpoint to that list: telling Crowe he sounds Irish.
During an interview with the BBC, journalist Mark Lawson -- who certainly knows more about British regional accents than Australian-by-way-of-New Zealand Crowe -- noted that the actor sounds a bit Irish in his new film, about the legendary English hero Robin Hood.
‘You’ve got dead ears, mate, seriously dead ears if you think there’s an Irish accent,’ Crowe snapped.
Lawson responded by asking if Crowe had been trying for a ‘Northern English’ inflection instead. Crowe retorted, ‘No, I was going for an Italian, yeah. Missed it?’ The sarcasm was followed ...
... by a signature Crowe expletive. Lawson then wisely changed the subject. He asked Crowe about a new report saying the actor didn’t want to deliver the famous ‘Gladiator’ line, ‘And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” But by this point Crowe had decided that the interview was beneath him and stormed out, saying, ‘I don’t get the Irish thing, by the way.’
Apparently Crowe still hasn’t gotten the whole anger management thing either. As fun as it might be to take this whole story to the next level -- in a fair fight, who would win: Naomi Campbell with a mace or Russell Crowe with a crossbow? -- Crowe’s nasty demeanor is starting to get in the way of our movie-going fun.
Yes, he’s an actor, and a movie is just a movie, but it can be tough to suspend one’s disbelief and go along with the whole robbing-the-rich-giving-to-the-poor thing when the guy who plays him clearly has such contempt for little people. Your more sanctimonious movie fan loves to wax forth about how the more enlightened among us know how to leave an actor’s real-life tantrums behind when choosing our entertainment.
But the truth is, it’s my money, and I may or may not have piracy software, and I just don’t feel like contributing any cash to a self-entitled, overgrown brat.
Which brings us to our inevitable poll!
-- Leslie Gornstein
[Corrected at 11:50 p.m.: An earlier version of this post misquoted the line from ‘Gladiator’ as ‘I’ll take my revenge, in this life or the next.’ The line is ‘And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.’ Thanks to commenter Heisenberg for pointing out that we had erred, and for getting the quote almost right as well.//cdz]
Top photo: Peace, really? French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, left, looks as if he’s not 100% believing the gesture as Russell Crowe and wife Danielle Spencer hit the red carpet for ‘Robin Hood’ in Cannes on May 12, 2010. Credit: Francois Guillot / AFP / Getty Images.
Second photo: Now that’s more like it -- playing to his, ahem, strengths, Crowe won an Oscar for his performance in the 2000 film ‘Gladiator.’ Credit: Associated Press.
Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:
Bum knee keeps Ridley Scott from Cannes premiere of ‘Robin Hood’
Russell Crowe gets his star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame
Don’t ask ‘Robin Hood’s’ Russell Crowe about wearing tights
PREACH IT! Naomi Campbell strikes again -- literally
PREACH IT! Is your family prepared in case of a Naomi Campbell attack?
Russell Crowe. Ridley Scott. The new ‘Robin Hood’ trailer. The Ministry can die happy.
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