Russell Crowe appeared as the genius scientist Jor-El of Krypton in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Snyder’s vision for the character was entirely different from Richard Donner’s Superman, where Marlon Brando played the role. Crowe later revealed that he did the role of Superman’s birth father as a tribute to The Godfather actor.
Crowe recalled the story of how Brando loved one of his performances so much, that he left a gift for him after his death. Besides Crowe, Sean Penn and Clive Owen were also considered for the role of Jor-El. He briefly reprised his role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Russell Crowe Purposefully Took The Role of Jor-El To Pay Tribute To Marlon Brando
Russell Crowe played the role of Jor-El alongside Henry Cavill in DCEU’s Man of Steel. Crowe earlier shared in an interview that his own fatherhood inspired him to portray Jor-El in the film (via ComicBook.com). He was also impressed with Zack Snyder’s old-school prep style for the film, sharing that he was in the movie for nearly four months before he faced a camera (via Access Hollywood).
However, he revealed to Howard Stern on his show the real reason why he took on the role. Crowe shared that he did it as a homage to Marlon Brando, who played the same role in Richard Donner’s Superman. The Gladiator actor shared that he had received a call from Joanna, Johnny Carson’s ex-wife and Brando’s closest friend. She had a gift for him from Brando.
She told him that Brando loved to watch one of his movies, The Insider, repeatedly and loved his performance in the film. Brando picked a book out of his bookshelf and gave it to Joanna to present to Crowe after his death. Crowe opened his book to find an inscription from Jack Nicholson, who had originally gifted the book to Brando. Crowe shared on The Howard Stern Show:
One of his recent favorite movies to watch was The Insider and I think [Joanna] estimated he watched it six or seven times. They were having a conversation one day and he picked up a book from the bookshelf in his office and he said, ‘When I die, take this book to Russell Crowe.’ It was inscribed to Marlon as a birthday present from Jack Nicholson in the early ’70s.
Crowe went on to ask Joanna why Brando never met with him in person, to which she said that he feared that he would be a disappointment to Crowe. Crowe shared that he understood Brando’s fear as he was also at that age now. When Stern talked about how they both played Jor-El, Crowe shared, “I did that on purpose.”
Marlon Brando Was Difficult to Work With In Superman
Richard Donner didn’t want a big star like Marlon Brando in his Superman movie initially. However, Brando was fixed for the role before Donner even joined the film and the director was upset about the actor’s huge salary. According to Variety, they paid $3.7 million to Brando to play the role of Jor-El in the film.
Many co-stars and Donner recalled Brando’s difficult behavior on the set of Superman. At one point, he suggested that Jor-El should be portrayed as a “bagel” and that he would provide the voice. He also reportedly refused to memorize dialogues and relied heavily on cue cards (via Collider). However, Donner also had this to say about the actor in a making video:
When I first came on the picture and I heard how much Marlon Brando was paid for it, I was really upset, because it seemed like much more money than anyone is worth. But then working with him and seeing him on film, to me, he is underpaid.
Brando also negotiated a cut of the film’s profits, with the producers offering him an 11.75% backend deal. However, Brando felt cheated out of his share of the film’s profits and sued the producers Salkinds and the distributors Warner Bros. for a sum of $50 million.
Man of Steel is now available for streaming on Max.
