Russell Crowe
How he plummeted from Oscar fame to a Raspberry nomination
Poor Russell Crowe: It just keeps going downhill.
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From Oscar winner and “Gladiator” star to raspberry contender: the deep fall of Russell Crowe.
For his performance as the papal exorciser in “The Pope’s Exorcist”. Russell Crowe (59) has just been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award – as worst actor. The low point of a great career that had been on the decline for a long time.
It has now been just over 20 years since Russell Crowe’s career was at its peak. From 2000 to 2002, the New Zealander was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor three times in a row. Only calibers like Al Pacino (83), Jack Nicholson (86) and Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) achieved this before him. Only Marlon Brando (1924-2004) has more to offer, with four nominations in four consecutive years.
Three Oscar nominations in a row
Crowe’s nomination one was for “Insider.” Alongside Al Pacino, Russell Crowe played the manager of a cigarette company who exposes his employer’s evil dealings. After a series of interesting supporting roles, for example as a rowdy, sensitive police officer in “LA Confidential”, he had reached the top. At least among the critics.
The breakthrough with the general public came a year later: for “Gladiator” by Ridley Scott (86) there was Oscar suggestion number two – and the golden boy. A year later, Russell Crowe was favorite again. But for his performance as a schizophrenic mathematician in “A Beautiful Mind” he was nominated.
At the time of the award ceremony, Crowe had already attracted attention with scandals. He allegedly attacked a producer who cut his BAFTA acceptance speech. A year earlier, he is said to have stormed out of the hall in anger at the Golden Globes when the award went not to him for “Gladiator” but to Tom Hanks (67) for “Cast Away”. This makes you unpopular with your colleagues. No wonder he was never nominated for an Oscar again.
“A Beautiful Mind” as a turning point: crash in installments
The actor, who was considered a difficult actor, initially had a few good moments (“Master & Commander”), but only Ridley Scott cast him in major roles (“A Good Year, “American Gangster”, “The Man Who Never Lived”) , “Robin Hood”).
By 2012 at the latest, things finally went downhill. The Bible film “Noah” caused irritation, and in 2018 he received his first nomination for the Anti-Award Golden Raspberry for his supporting role in the almost grotesquely unsuccessful “The Mummy”.
Every now and then there are still highlights, like a Golden Globe nomination for the series “The Loudest Voice” – despite or because of thick make-up as “Fox News” boss Roger Ailes.
Russell Crowe now oscillates between leading roles in better B-movies (“Unhinged”, “The Pope’s Exorcist”) and – more rarely – supporting roles in big films like “Thor: Love and Thunder”. Now, after Thor, the next Marvel film adaptation is coming up, a larger villainous role in “Kraven the Hunter” (from August 2024). But superhero films are also now on the decline.