Russell Crowe, the Oscar-winning Gladiator actor, says he feels “very sorry” for actors who take film roles without believing in the story or characters they are playing. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, Crowe explained that he needs to feel connected to his work to stay motivated.
Russell Crowe explains why he pities actors who take roles they don’t believe in and admits he has “mismanaged” his own relationship with Hollywood
Deadline posted a video on X where Crowe explained that he needs to feel connected to a project before committing to it.
“When I have to get up at 4.30 a.m. to go to a film set, I absolutely need to know why I’m getting up at 4.30 a.m,” he said. “I feel very sorry for actors who make decisions to go on films sets where they not believing in the subject matter that they’re working on, the character they’re working on, because how the hell you could motivate yourself at that time of day if you didn’t have a fundamental love for it?”
“So I’m happy with the way things are cruising along,” Crowe added.
At 62, Crowe said he is “totally happy” with his career and has never followed a fixed plan. In his words, “I’ve just rolled with opportunities as they’ve come in. I didn’t have a plan, and I still don’t have a plan. I just do what becomes apparent to me, pursue the things that I feel connected to.” He added, “I wouldn’t want to change anything about the career that I had. Even in its darkest moments, it was incredibly educational.”
Crowe also reflected on his complicated relationship with the entertainment industry, admitting that he has “mismanaged” it over the years.
“I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’ve mismanaged my relationship with Hollywood. But always to my benefit. It’s taken a long time actually for people to realize that I’m not American,” he said. “Because in that first flush of success, people just made a huge assumption,” he added. “I’m not driven by the same things that people who come necessarily from that culture are driven by.”
