Russell Crowe Has Mixed Feelings About Ridley Scott's Gladiator II

Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" was far from Russell Crowe's first movie (in fact, it was his 20th), but it catapulted him to stardom and he hasn't really slowed down since. "I work constantly," Crowe told Kyle Meredith in a recent interview. "I'm always turning down more things that I can do. I even have to walk away from some things that I'm quite interested in because I just can't fit them in."

One movie that's not on Crowe's list of projects is the upcoming "Gladiator II," since (spoiler alert) his character, Maximus Decimus Meridius, died at the end of the first movie. That doesn't mean he's spared from being quizzed about it, though. "They should be f***ing paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in," Crowe told journalists at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2023. "I don't know anything about the cast, I don't know anything about the plot. I am dead!"

Crowe admitted to Meredith that he was "slightly uncomfortable" at the thought of a sequel anyway since his character being "six feet under" meant that he would have no say in the movie. This was compounded when he finally did learn a few details about the plot. "A couple of things that I've heard, I'm like, 'Oh no no no no no no, that's not in the moral journey of that particular character.' But, you know, I can't say anything. It's not my place."

Any doubts Crowe might have, though, are mingled with a general "tinge of melancholy" and a "tinge of jealousy," since a new "Gladiator" movie (this time led by rising star Paul Mescal) reminds him of "the doors that that particular movie opened for me." 

But the biggest cause of that melancholy and jealousy? "I remember a life when I had tendons."

Before you start to worry too much about Crowe's "Gladiator II" doubts, keep in mind that he also had plenty of reservations on the set of the first movie. "I did think a couple of times, 'Maybe my best bet option is just to get on a plane and get out of here,'" the actor admitted in a retrospective with Vanity Fair. 

Director Ridley Scott was able to talk his star down by promising him, "We're not committing anything to camera that you don't believe in 100%." By the start of filming they still only had around 20 or so pages of the script that they agreed on, which left them scrambling to figure out the story during the shoot itself. When Crowe finally saw it on the big screen, though, he realized that something special had emerged from all that chaos:

"When I first saw it, I was blown away by it. And when I first saw it with a crowd, that's when it really freaked me out, because it was like going to a movie when I was a kid. People were so connected to the film. And they were voicing that connection. [When] the emperor puts that knife under Maximus' arm [to cripple him before their fight], people were angry! They were standing in their seats [and] calling him a motherf***er. [Laughs] And I was like, 'Woah, this is big!'"

Crowe won an Oscar for his performance in "Gladiator," and was nominated again the following year for "A Beautiful Mind." His public image took some hits during that time period due to his off-screen reputation for getting into brawls, but his on-screen career has scarcely faltered. And while his arena days might be behind him, you don't need tendons to fight the Devil.