Ridley Scott’s action-adventure epic historical drama Gladiator can be counted as one of the greatest movies of all time. Starring Russel Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, the movie has turned out to be a massive box office and critical success.
The $503.2 million movie, however, has some intense behind the scene moments that involved the two leading men. As Crowe worked as a big brother to this young actor Phoenix at the time, he went into supporting the actor as Phoenix was extremely nervous.
Joaquin Phoenix Had a Nervous Breakdown on Gladiator Set
It is hard to imagine Joaquin Phoenix— who has mastered his acting skill over the years— having a nervous breakdown for a role. But when he was young and starred as the Roman emperor Commodus who ruled from 177 to 192, it was pressure even for Phoenix to smoothly transition into the role. Of course, Phoenix was young but he did a marvelous job portraying the character. But before getting into the character, Russell Crowe noticed Phoenix’s anxiety and decided to help him out. Crowe with his co-star Richard Harris came up with a plan that would calm him down.
“Harris and I got together and said, ‘How are we going to make Joaquin Phoenix relax?’ And his solution was, ‘Let’s get him drunk and we’ll find out if we like him first before we bother working with him.’ And it was maybe an old-fashioned concept, but it worked very well,” Crowe told The Morning Call.
It seemed the plan to get drunk with Phoenix worked. Also, the actor bonded well as Crowe has got to test him as well. “I am very pleased to tell you that Joaquin Phoenix is a magnificent young man and a wonderful poet,” Crowe said. “That came out at about 3:300 in the morning,” he added. The movie turned out to be a masterpiece as the movie got 12 Oscar nominations and took home 5 including Crowe’s Best Actor. Phoenix was nominated for an Oscar for his role as well.
Also read: Russell Crowe Nearly Totalled His Career By Rejecting Lord Of The Rings Lead Role Due To $503M Movie
Russel Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix Had a Mutual Concern for Gladiator
Confidence is the key and both these stars had lesser faith in the movie after reading the script. “Gladiator is my 20-something-th movie, so I was confident about my abilities as a lead man. What I wasn’t confident about with Gladiator was the world that was surrounding me,” Crowe once told Vanity Fair. “At the core of what we were doing was a great concept, but the script.. it was rubbish. Absolute rubbish,” he added.
According to The Pope’s Exorcist actor, the original script was far too different from the final script as several scenes were not digestible for Crowe. But Ridley Scott managed to bring him on board along with Phoenix who also shared the same concern as Crowe. “Joaquin was going through the same thing as I was,” Crowe said.
“When you walk onto a set that big, it’s very easy for imposter syndrome to come over you. It’s like ‘What am I gonna do with this.’ He would go to his costume appointments, and they would put him in this armor and all this finery. I remember one day he said to Ridley, ‘Ridley I don’t understand. You know I’m a kid from Florida. What am I supposed to do in this? Go out and wave to people?’ And Ridley‘s like ‘Yeah, that’s what you’re supposed to do.’”
Phoenix, who won an Oscar for his DC role as Joker, eventually overcame his fear and followed Scott’s direction to add this masterpiece to his resume which somehow helped to shape his rising fame.
Scott’s second installment to the epic historical drama, Gladiator 2 is set to release on 22 November 2024.
Source: Showbiz CheatSheet.
