Russell Crowe turns 60 and reports on many a “war injury” from his career. It’s had its fair share of ups and downs.
Russell Crowe (60) has a lot to do these days. The Hollywood star celebrates his 60th birthday on April 7th, is currently filming a new film called “Nuremberg” and will soon be going on tour with his band Indoor Garden Party. The actor from New Zealand apparently doesn’t mind that his career is characterized by ups and downs.
“I love my job, and I’m not one of those people who gets grumpy about the things they’ve done at a certain age,” he told “Virgin Radio UK”. “Because I always choose to make the film I want to make, regardless of whether it turns out as good as I hoped when I signed! That depends on the gods.”
Recently they didn’t mean particularly well to Russell Crowe: For his performance as a papal exorciser of devils in “The Pope’s Exorcist” (2023) he was nominated for the Golden Raspberry – as the worst leading actor. Crowe also knows the beautiful side of fame very well.
Crowe was nominated for a leading actor Oscar three times in a row
From 2000 to 2002, the New Zealander was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor three times in a row. He received nomination one for “Insider”. After a series of interesting roles, for example as a rowdy, sensitive police officer in “LA Confidential” (1997), he had reached the top.
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 – Verschollen”.
He adapts his roles to his age
Russell Crowe, who was considered a difficult figure at the time, initially had a few good moments (“Master & Commander”), but only Ridley Scott (“A Good Year”, “American Gangster”, “The Man”) cast him in major roles , who never lived”, “Robin Hood”). In addition to major setbacks like “The Mummy” – for which he received his first nomination for the Golden Raspberry in 2018 – there were also other highlights for Crowe, such as a Golden Globe in 2020 for the series “The Loudest Voice”.
Crowe, who moved from New Zealand to Australia with his parents as a child, is not underemployed, at least to this day. His secret to success: He adapts his roles to his actual age, as Crowe told Virgin Radio. In this way he saves himself the worries of some colleagues “who are desperately trying to preserve their youth.” There are “plenty of roles for people of all ages, as long as you behave naturally at that age, so it hasn’t affected my work life at all,” he explained. However, he doesn’t feel like he’s 60. “It’s very interesting because I don’t feel or look the way I imagine a 60-year-old feels and looks.”
“A series of war injuries”
However, his job has left its mark: “In reality, I carry a number of war injuries with me. I have done a lot of physical jobs in my time. And if you are injured by a sword, an ax or an arrow, it stays with you Rule too.”
He revealed a few weeks ago that he is tough “People” magazine. He said he broke both of his legs while filming the adventure film “Robin Hood” in 2009. He injured himself jumping onto the “rock-hard, uneven ground” of a castle because the ground was not prepared for the stunt during the hectic filming of a fight scene.
But Crowe didn’t take a day off afterward and didn’t even inform production of the injury. “Everything for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just keep working and over time they healed themselves,” explains the actor looking back. It was only ten years later that the star was informed about the fact that he had broken his legs by a doctor he visited because of persistent pain in his lower legs.
Actor appears without a beard
At 60, the actor continues to focus on his fitness, focusing primarily on tennis and cycling: “No matter how old I am, I still feel young enough to get on a bike and enjoy this simplicity.” One thing has apparently changed recently for the Oscar winner. He has shaved off his graying beard, which has been visible at public appearances in recent years. “The actor prepares number 20, the first shave since 2019”, Crowe wrote in February on a post showing him without a beard.
It is not known exactly for which role Crowe said goodbye to his full beard. The busy actor will soon be in front of the camera for, among other things, a mixed martial arts action film. In the historical film “Nuremberg” (German: “Nuremberg”), which he is currently filming in Budapest, he plays the Nazi Hermann Göring.
This is what Russell Crowe’s love life looks like
Russell Crowe keeps his love life largely out of the public eye. He is said to have been in a relationship with his partner Britney Theriot since 2020. According to media reports, they had met a few years earlier on the set of the film “Broken City” (2013). The couple appeared on the red carpet together for the first time in October 2022.
In 2018, Russell Crowe divorced his wife Danielle Spencer (54) after around 15 years of marriage; they allegedly separated in 2012. He met the Australian singer in 1989 when he was working on the film “The Crossing”, and it followed initially an on/off relationship. In 2000, a romance between Crowe and actress Meg Ryan (62) made headlines. In 2001, Crowe reconciled with Danielle Spencer. The couple married two years later and had two sons: Charles Spencer Crowe (20) and Tennyson Spencer Crowe (17).