Russell Crowe was not entertained.
The actor, 61, is sharing his issue with the 2024 film “Gladiator II.”
In Ridley Scott’s 2000 hit movie “Gladiator,” Crowe starred as Maximus alongside Joaquin Phoenix. The Oscar winner had a problem with the sequel revealing that his deceased character fathered an illegitimate son (Paul Mescal) with Lucilla, played by Connie Nielsen.
Crowe was not in the sequel, which follows the life of Mescal’s Lucius.
“The recent sequel that we don’t have to name out loud is a really good example of, even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made that first one special,” Crowe explained while speaking with the Australian radio station Triple J.
“It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”
“And the thing is, there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character,” he detailed about the first film. “The amount of times that they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus — it’s like, you’re taking away his power.”
“So, you’re saying, at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f–king this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”
In the first film, Maximus was a dedicated family man who sought revenge after the murder of his wife, (Giannina Facio), and child. Therefore, to Crowe it didn’t make sense that his character would have affairs.
When “Gladiator II” debuted in November 2024, Crowe heard from disgruntled critics.
“The women in Europe, when that movie started coming out, I would be at a restaurant, and they’d come talk to me [and complain],” he confessed. “It’s like, ‘Hey, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do it.’”
In 2020, Crowe got candid on having his character die in “Gladiator.”
“I remember Ridley coming up to me on set saying, ‘Look, the way this is shaping up, I don’t see how you live. This character is about one act of pure vengeance for his wife and child, and, once he’s accomplished that, what does he do?’” Crowe recalled to Empire.
“And my joke used to be, ‘Yeah, what does Maximus do? Does he end up running a f–king pizzeria by the Colosseum?’ He has a singular purpose, which is to meet his wife in the afterlife and apologize for not being there for her. And that’s it.”
“Gladiator” was the second highest grossing movie in 2000 and brought in $465.4 million.
The action movie was also the most-nominated film at the 2001 Academy Awards with 12 nods and five wins.
Crowe took home the trophy for Best Actor while the project also won for Best Picture.
The sequel, meanwhile, which also starred Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn, brought in over $462 million. At the Oscars, the movie scored one nomination for Best Costume Design.
Last year, “Gladiator II” screenwriter David Scarpa opened up about the hardships of bringing a sequel to life.
“You have to deal with people’s emotional relationship to [the original] movie and to their proprietary feelings about it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “As much as Ridley wanted the continuity of the world, he was not going to just do a greatest hits album of the first movie.”
Mescal, 29, touched on the demand of stepping into a beloved franchise, too.
“I do feel the pressure, and I do feel the desire for this to make money,” Mescal told Variety in November 2024. “The box office needs a shot in the arm, and if films like ‘Gladiator II’ aren’t doing it, it would be concerning. So I do feel a responsibility.”
The actor first saw the original movie when he was 13.
“I was at home with my dad,” Mescal said. “I feel like for a lot of dads it was a big film, like, ‘Come on, son, let’s watch ‘Gladiator!’ ”
Choosing to work on “Gladiator II” was a no-brainer for the “Hamlet” star.
“It was really just Ridley and ‘Gladiator,’ and I felt like I was ripe for this kind of big film,” he continued. “I played sports growing up; I know what it is to throw myself around. I look Roman. All of those things. And it’s Ridley Scott!”
During his interview, Mescal gushed over meeting Washington, 70, for the first time.
“Holy f–k, I’m in a scene with Denzel! It could have been overwhelming,” he recounted, “but I kind of set out in my head that I’m totally entitled to admire this man and see him as an idol, but I’ve got to protect myself from that when we’re working together. I’ve got to treat Denzel as I would any other actor.”
Despite looking up to Washington on set, Mescal opted to not reach out to Crowe.
“I felt confident having Ridley at the helm and as I work as an actor, ultimately, I have to stand behind this entirely by myself. There’s no excuses,” he explained to EXTRA at the time of the film’s release. “You can’t rely on anybody behind the script and the director and yourself.”
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