Russell Crowe
Interview By: Andrea Tuccillo
AndreaTuccillo@TheCinemaSource.com
Outside of his brilliant acting in films like Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, and 3:10 to Yuma, Russell Crowe has acquired somewhat of a tough-guy reputation in real-life. On this bright and sunny day in Manhattan, though, Crowe has a personality to match. He's cheerful and charming, friendly and relaxed. Perhaps it's because of the special guest he has tagging along with him'his adorable 3-year-old son Charlie.
It seems that fatherhood has brought peace to Crowe as he brings his little boy into the room and sets him on his knee. It's a contrast to his gritty, tumultuous new film American Gangster, the true story of Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington). Crowe plays an honest narcotics cop determined to put an end to Frank's dangerous business.
'The reality of Frank's life was there was a large part of it that was glamorous,' Crowe explains. 'He ran a club that all the celebrities went to, Wilt Chamberlain was his mate, they used to hang out. It was glamorous but the bottom line is Frank Lucas made a living at the expense of other people.'
At this point, little Charlie interjects. 'I'm gonna do some jokes,' he says matter-of-factly, turning the microphone to face him and promptly stealing the spotlight from dad. He runs through a few of his favorites including this comedic gem, 'Why did the orange stop in the middle of the road' Because he ran out of juice!', before Crowe gently tells him to play outside while he finishes the interview.
'Meanwhile, back on the streets of Harlem!' Crowe jokes once his budding comedian is safely outside.
He continues, 'You can have an opinion on this and see it any way you want to see it, but I watched this movie and I see Ridley [Scott] places very carefully throughout the course of the film the destruction that Frank is bringing about. Just at the heights of when you start thinking, hey man I like this guy, Frank. He looks after his family, he's looking out for his mom, look at that table it's all set beautifully'then cut and bam, there's this woman on the bed with fluid coming out of all different parts of her and he just shows the destruction, he shows the tragedy.'
Where Frank Lucas was a criminal, Crowe's character Richie Roberts was on the flip side of the law. His honesty in a police department filled with corruption doesn't make life easy for him. When he turns in a million dollars of unmarked cash, his colleagues shun him outright. Though he exhibits certain standards at work, Richie is by no means a perfect man. For one thing, his personal life is a mess. 'I don't think Richie's righteous at all,' Crowe says. 'Richie just didn't take money. That's one thing. Richie couldn't keep his dick in his pants, that's another thing. He's not righteous. What Richie told me was, 'I don't want to be portrayed as a womanizer, but let me tell you about this one time I was in a Supreme Court case and I banged this stenographer on the second floor broom closet'''
Still, Crowe understands why Richie took his job so seriously. 'Nobody wants zealotry in a police force,' he says. 'You do want to know that the guy who's got that badge is confident enough to judge a certain level of benign corruption. A man steals some food to feed his starving children. Ok, I can dig that, that's cool. Just walk on then. But there's a line and you don't want to cross. I think the thing that angered Richie so much is that he believed so heavily in the institution. He believed in America as an institution and I think he's a great patriot.'
While preparing for the role, Crowe got a chance to meet with the real Richie Roberts. One particular incident helped Crowe get a feel for who the guy really was, in all of his flaws and good-intentions-gone-wrong. 'My first interview with Ritchie he decides he's going to make a good impression so he borrows a Jaguar from a friend of his,' Crowe says. 'But this is a guy who is just, at a certain level, dysfunctional. So he borrows this Jaguar and halfway to Nyack where I was staying, he gets a flat tire, but he thinks if I stop to change that flat tire I'm going to be late and that's going to give a bad impression. So he drives halfway to Nyack on a flat tire. The rim of that wheel just got absolutely crapped out, the back panel on the car starts getting whacked out because the rim of the tire is getting more and more uneven. So he gets to Nyack on time but he's driving a Jaguar with a flat tire, a busted rim and now the back panel's hanging off the car. This is the real man right now and that's the day he's trying to make a good impression.'
Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts were on opposite ends of the spectrum for most of their lives, but when Frank is finally arrested and begins cooperating with Richie they formed an unlikely bond. 'They spent nine months together sifting through all of this stuff and memories of what Frank had done and who had taken what and all that,' Crowe says. 'The bond was formed in the fact that they were after the same people. And that bond still exists today. But it's not surprising. If you think about it, you can pick anybody and if you work with them for nine months on something and you achieve together it's not surprising that a bond is created and friendship is formed.'
The filming experience of American Gangster gave Crowe a chance to reconnect with long-time collaborator Ridley Scott (who directed Crowe in his Oscar-winning turn in Gladiator and the 2006 film A Good Year ) and with former co-star Denzel Washington (the two worked together previously in the 1995 thriller Virtuosity). Next up, Crowe once again teams up with Scott for the film Body of Lies, co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Crowe's career is still going strong, but perhaps more importantly'and unlike his character in American Gangster'he has found contentment in his family life. And by the looks of it, it won't be too long before his son decides to follow in his footsteps.
