Russell Crowe and veteran director Ridley Scott worked together to create the iconic 2000 masterpiece of a film, Gladiator. Starring in the titular role, Crowe portrayed the role of a man whose wife and child are killed after Commodus orders his exile.
Returning as a slave and fighting in the pits of the Roman Colosseum, Russell Crowe fought chariots, horses, and tigers to find his way to victory. Well, the tigers used in the scenes were actually real and Crowe had a hilarious reaction when a tiger came very close to him!
When Russell Crowe Fought Tigers
Portraying the role of Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 film was quite a challenge for Russell Crowe but it paid off well. Starring in the iconic movie, Crowe had the time of his life working alongside veteran director Ridley Scott.
During one of the scenes when Maximus was fighting as a gladiator in the pit, Commodus (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) brought in a challenge for the fighter. Bringing tigers into the mix, the sequence became a survival test for Maximus and for Russell Crowe as well. Talking about the scene in an interview with Variety, Ridley Scott narrated the events of shooting the scenes with the tigers.
“[The tiger was] a big boy from tail to nose, eleven feet. You’ve got two guys on a chain with a ring in the floor to control it. Russell said, ‘Okay, release them,’ and when Russell would fall back, the tiger would come out of the hole, and Russell would roll out of the way, and he said, ‘F*** me, that was close’”.
After the classic movie entertained the audiences, a sequel is currently in the works and Crowe is not in it. Well, The Pope’s Exorcist actor has quite some spectacular comments and thoughts about the upcoming film.
Russell Crowe Is Not Even In Gladiator 2
With the sequel in the works, Crowe has been asked many times what he thinks about Gladiator 2. Since his character dies at the end of the original film, Crowe is not even in the film and that’s what he said to Screendaily.
“They should be f***ing paying me, for the amount of questions I’ve had to answer about a f***ing film that I’m not even in. It’s got nothing to do with me; in that world, I’m dead, six feet under, and that’s that.”
Gladiator received a rating of 8.5/10 on IMDB and a high of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes with the movie winning 5 Oscars in total! The 2000 movie is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
