Russell Crowe#Music

Crowe was born in Strathmore Park, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, on 7 April 1964,{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe |url= http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/crowe/timeline.html |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101121093244/http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/crowe/timeline.html |archive-date=21 November 2010 |access-date=30 June 2008 |publisher=People in the News (CNN)}} the son of film set caterers Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe.{{Cite web |date=4 January 2004 |title=Inside The Actors Studio With Russell Crowe – Transcript |url=http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623093158/http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm |archive-date=23 June 2008 |access-date=10 April 2010 |publisher=Kaspinet.com}} His father also managed a hotel. His maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was awarded an MBE for filming footage of World War II as a member of the New Zealand Film Unit.{{Cite web |title=Inside The Actors Studio – Transcript |url= http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150324015003/http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm |archive-date=24 March 2015 |publisher=kaspinet.com}} Crowe has a distant Māori descent, through one of his maternal great-great-grandmothers.{{Cite tweet |number=353596721428824064 |user=russellcrowe |title=Born NZ, live Australia, 1 Welsh grandad, 1 Scottish, also Italian, Norwegian & Maori heritage, also English in there but I don't mention that |author=Russell Crowe |date=6 July 2013 |access-date=4 August 2013}}{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe ~ Russell ... Something to Crowe About! |url= http://russellcrowe.5u.com/Interviews/JuiceMagazine_5_93.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045042/http://russellcrowe.5u.com/Interviews/JuiceMagazine_5_93.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |publisher=5u.com}} His paternal grandfather, John Doubleday Crowe, was a Welsh man from Wrexham, while another of his grandparents was Scottish.{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/iconsofwales/sites/content/pages/russell_crowe.shtml |url-status=deviated |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060630132713/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/iconsofwales/sites/content/pages/russell_crowe.shtml |archive-date=30 June 2006 |access-date=19 November 2006 |publisher=BBC Wales |date=30 June 2006}}{{Cite web |date=5 May 2010 |title=English folklore brings Crowe back to Wales |url= http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/88090/english-folklore-brings-crowe-back-to-wales.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151016030751/http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/88090/english-folklore-brings-crowe-back-to-wales.aspx |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=22 February 2013 |website=The Leader |location=Wrexham}} His other ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish.{{Cite news |date=7 June 2005 |title=Russell Crowe: Hollywood livewire |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4070410.stm |access-date=10 April 2010 |archive-date=5 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205180620/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4070410.stm |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=5 February 2011 |title=Brits 'Sheepish' About 'Kiwi' Cousins Despite Close Historical Links |publisher=Ancestry.co.uk |url= http://www.ancestry.co.uk/about/default.aspx?section=pr-2011-02-05 |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120330235306/http://www.ancestry.co.uk/about/default.aspx?section=pr-2011-02-05 |archive-date=30 March 2012}}{{Cite press release |date=7 February 2011 |title=Ancestry entdeckt preußische Wurzeln des "Gladiator" Russell Crowe |publisher=Ancestryeurope.lu |lang=de |url= http://www.ancestryeurope.lu/press/press-releases/deutschland/2011/02/ancestry-entdeckt-preuische-wurzeln-des-gladiator-russell-crowe/ |url-status=dead |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170706111523/http://www.ancestryeurope.lu/press/press-releases/deutschland/2011/02/ancestry-entdeckt-preuische-wurzeln-des-gladiator-russell-crowe/ |archive-date=6 July 2017}}{{Cite web |title=RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Johansen / Olsen Family Tree |url=http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=clarkenz&id=I055 |publisher=ancestry.com |access-date=16 May 2015 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222124726/http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=clarkenz&id=I055 |url-status=live }} He is a cousin of former New Zealand national cricket captains Martin and Jeff Crowe,{{Cite web |title=North East Wales Showbiz – Russell Crowe |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/showbiz/russellcrowe.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100523081252/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/showbiz/russellcrowe.shtml |archive-date=23 May 2010 |access-date=22 February 2013 |publisher=BBC}} and the nephew of cricketer Dave Crowe.{{Cite news |title=Video: Family, friends pay respects at Martin Crowe's funeral |work=Newshub |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/03/family-friends-pay-respects-at-martin-crowes-funeral.html |access-date=3 March 2016 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723153313/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/03/family-friends-pay-respects-at-martin-crowes-funeral.html |url-status=dead }}

When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia and settled in Sydney, where his parents pursued their career in film set catering. His mother's godfather was the producer of the Australian TV series Spyforce, and Crowe was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode of the series at age five or six, opposite series star Jack Thompson.{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe – Charlie Rose |url=https://charlierose.com/videos/20843 |via=charlierose.com |access-date=13 September 2018 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019172228/https://charlierose.com/videos/20843 |url-status=live }} Later, in 1994, Thompson would play the supportive father of Crowe's gay character in The Sum of Us.Buckmaster, Luke. (18 July 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/film/australia-culture-blog/2014/jul/18/the-sum-of-us-rewatched-a-loving-father-a-gay-son The Sum of Us rewatched – a loving father, a gay son] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406002806/https://www.theguardian.com/film/australia-culture-blog/2014/jul/18/the-sum-of-us-rewatched-a-loving-father-a-gay-son |date=6 April 2023 }}. The Guardian.{{Cite web |title=The Sum of Us (1994): Full Cast & Crew |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111309/fullcredits |access-date=6 May 2019 |website=IMDb |archive-date=9 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909053241/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111309/fullcredits |url-status=live }} Crowe also appeared briefly in the serial The Young Doctors. In Australia, he was educated at Vaucluse Public School and Sydney Boys High School, before his family moved back to New Zealand in 1978 when he was 14. He continued his secondary education at a private Auckland school before leaving school at the age of 16 to pursue his acting ambitions.{{Cite web |date=14 May 2016 |title=Russell Crowe talks fatherhood and finding new love |url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/sunday-style/russell-crowe-is-looking-for-love/news-story/f08c04f7175200b9bfa2c792c36da4a6 |access-date=5 March 2019 |website=news.com.au |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919194350/https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/sunday-style/russell-crowe-is-looking-for-love/news-story/f08c04f7175200b9bfa2c792c36da4a6 |url-status=dead }}

File:Russ le Roq (Russell Crowe), 1981 (cropped).jpg

Under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, Crowe began his performing career as a musician in the early 1980s performing under the stage name "Russ Le Roq". He released several New Zealand singles, including "I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando",{{Cite web |title=Russ Le Roq – I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando |url=https://www.discogs.com/Russ-Le-Roq-I-Just-Wanna-Be-Like-Marlon-Brando/release/963184 |website=Discogs |date=15 June 1982 |access-date=19 April 2019 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501142259/https://www.discogs.com/Russ-Le-Roq-I-Just-Wanna-Be-Like-Marlon-Brando/release/963184 |url-status=live }} "Pier 13", and "Shattered Glass", none of which charted.Ewbank/Hildred: Russell Crowe – The Biography, Carlton Publishing, London, 2001, page 23 He managed an Auckland music venue called "The Venue" in 1984.He can be seen in this Auckland music scene documentary at about 3:20. [http://tvnz.co.nz/classics/radio-pictures-north-island-scene-1014292 1984 north island music scene] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626165056/http://tvnz.co.nz/classics/radio-pictures-north-island-scene-1014292 |date=26 June 2009 }} When he was 18, he was featured in A Very Special Person..., a promotional video for the theology/ministry course at Avondale University, a Seventh-day Adventist tertiary education provider in New South Wales, Australia.[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/marchweb-only/3-26-12.0.html?paging=off "Russell Crowe's religious film past"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006082946/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/marchweb-only/3-26-12.0.html?paging=off |date=6 October 2013 }}, Christianity Today, 1 March 2001. ("Crowe says he did A Very Special Person only because he needed the acting experience ... 'I did what I could for it, whether it was a training film for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a television commercial or just stuff to get in front of the camera.'")

In 1985, Crowe left New Zealand and returned to Australia when he was 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. He said, "I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA. I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it'd be a waste of time. He said, 'You already do the things you go there to learn, and you've been doing it for most of your life, so there's nothing to teach you but bad habits.'"{{Cite web |last=Lovece |first=Frank |date=6 August 1995 |title=Russell Crowe Has Enough Ego to be a Bad Guy You'll Remember |url= http://franklovece.com/newsday.html#crowe |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003010/http://franklovece.com/newsday.html#crowe |archive-date=27 September 2007 |website=Newsday}} From 1986 to 1988, he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri, in a New Zealand production of The Rocky Horror Show. He played the role of Eddie/Dr Scott. He repeated this performance in a further Australian production of the show, which also toured New Zealand.The Original Rocky Horror Show, New Zealand theatre programme. Theatre Promotions (One) Ltd and Company. In 1987, Crowe spent six months busking when he could not find other work.[https://gw.geneanet.org/borys?lang=en&n=wemyss&oc=0&p=jocelyne+yvonne Jocelyne Yvonne Wemyss] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817145032/https://gw.geneanet.org/borys?lang=en&n=wemyss&oc=0&p=jocelyne+yvonne |date=17 August 2023 }} > Parents > Stanley James Wemyss > Spouses and children with John Alexander Crowe > Russell Crowe 1964. Geneanet. In the 1988 Australian production of Blood Brothers, Crowe played the role of Mickey.{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Elissa |date=31 January 2015 |title=Blood Brothers returns to Hayes Theatre after 20-year Sydney absence |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/blood-brothers-returns-to-hayes-theatre-after-20year-sydney-absence-20150127-12zcsy.html |access-date=31 January 2019 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=1 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201013355/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/blood-brothers-returns-to-hayes-theatre-after-20year-sydney-absence-20150127-12zcsy.html |url-status=live }} He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny, in the stage musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom in 1989.[http://oztheatrical.com/bbj/ Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524032612/http://oztheatrical.com/bbj/ |date=24 May 2023 }}. oztheatrical.com website.

After appearing in the TV series Neighbours and Living with the Law, Crowe was cast by Faith Martin in his first film, The Crossing (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protégé of Ogilvie, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the 1990 film Blood Oath (aka Prisoners of the Sun), which was released a month earlier than The Crossing, although actually filmed later. In 1992, Crowe starred in the first episode of the second series of Police Rescue. Also in 1992, Crowe starred in Romper Stomper, an Australian film which followed the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright and co-starring Jacqueline McKenzie. For the role, Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor, following up from his Best Supporting Actor award for Proof in 1991. In 2015, it was reported that Crowe had applied for Australian citizenship in 2006 and again in 2013 but was rejected because he failed to fulfill the residency requirements. However, Australia's Immigration Department said it had no record of any such application by Crowe.{{Cite web |date=25 March 2015 |title=Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/russell-who--immigration-department-asks-20150325-1m7q55.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=20 April 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817145031/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/russell-crowe-never-applied-for-australian-citizenship-says-immigration-department-20150325-1m7q55.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/russell-crowe-never-applied-citizenship-784551/ |title=Russell Crowe Never Applied for Citizenship, Says Australia's Department of Immigration |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first1=Abid |last1=Rahman |first2=Alex |last2=Ritman |date=25 March 2015 |accessdate=7 November 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107044841/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/russell-crowe-never-applied-citizenship-784551/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url= https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/bizarre-reason-behind-russell-crowes-citizenship-secret/news-story/05d5242f7a0258e1d5918429f8209284 |title=Bizarre reason behind Russell Crowe's citizenship secret |work=The Daily Telegraph |location= Sydney |first=Jonathon |last=Moran |date=17 June 2021 |accessdate=7 November 2021 |url-access=subscription}}

File:Russell Crowe 1999.jpg in Washington, D.C., 1999]]

After initial success in Australia, Crowe first starred in a Canadian production in 1993, For the Moment, before concentrating on American films. In 1993 he was favoured for the role of Joshua Chamberlain in the epic film Gettysburg, but was passed over for Jeff Daniels.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBPtYnimmTk | title=Gettysburg Behind the Scenes: How Jeff Daniels was Cast as Chamberlain | website=YouTube | date=November 2023 }} In 1995, he appeared in four Hollywood films, this included the science fiction film Virtuosity where he co-starred with Denzel Washington, unfortunately it received poor reviews and failed commercially. His other roles that year saw him work with Sharon Stone in the western The Quick and the Dead, comedy Rough Magic with Bridget Fonda, and his first starring role in the industry as an FBI agent in No Way Back.

He had his breakthrough playing a short tempered LAPD officer having an affair with a call girl working in the stable of a shady millionaire who used prostitutes to blackmail powerful politicians and businessmen in 1997's neo-noir hit L.A. Confidential.{{Cite web |last=Raikundalia |first=Aneesh |date=2025-03-04 |title=L.A. Confidential (1997) Movie Review: A Snapshot of 1950s LAPD in a 1990s Neo-Noir |url=https://www.highonfilms.com/l-a-confidential-1997-movie-review/ |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=High On Films |language=en-US}} His co-stars included Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, Kim Bassinger, among others. He starred in Breaking Up, a romantic drama with Salma Hayek. After headlining the ice hockey centered Mystery, Alaska, he portrayed Jeffrey Wigand in Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), based on his life. This film opened to highly positive reviews and earned Crowe his first nomination for an Academy Award. He was cast as Wolverine for the first X-Men film, but he instead offered the part to Hugh Jackman which launched his career.{{Cite web |last=Jennings |first=Collier |date=2024-10-15 |title=In a World Gone Wrong, We Could've Had Russell Crowe as Wolverine |url=https://collider.com/russell-crowe-wolverine/ |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=Collider |language=en}}

In 2000, Crowe starred in his career defining film Gladiator. Directed by Ridley Scott, the epic historical film was met with major commercial success and acclaim, catapulting Crowe to worldwide stardom and winning him the Best Actor award at 73rd Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and various more.{{Cite web |title=Did five movies with Ridley Scott lead Russell Crowe away from superstardom? |url=https://www.avclub.com/russell-crowe-ridley-scott-together-again |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=AV Club |language=en-US}} Crowe was also awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for "service to Australian society and Australian film production."[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127575 It's an Honour website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422064357/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127575 |date=22 April 2023 }}. Retrieved 23 October 2010. In a later interview, Crowe stated the film forever changed his life. He recounted visiting an Italian store where a large crowd gathered outside, yelling his character's first name, Maximus.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoEIWO_Winw |title=Russell Crowe Was Shocked by His Own Stardom After “Gladiator” |date=2019-06-19 |last=The Howard Stern Show |access-date=2025-06-21 |via=YouTube}} Many of his lines from the film are considered iconic.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-24 |title=The Story Behind That Time Russell Crowe Nearly Torpedoed What Ended Up Being Gladiator's Most Famous Line: ‘It Was Sh–’ |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/story-behind-time-russell-crowe-163443307.html |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=Yahoo Entertainment |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=McCormick |first=Colin |last2=Keefe |first2=Riley |date=2020-02-18 |title=Are You Not Entertained?! 25 Most Iconic Quotes From Gladiator |url=https://screenrant.com/gladiator-iconic-quotes-entertained/ |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} Gladiator is widely regarded among the greatest films of all time.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-08 |title=Sorry, Haters: 'Gladiator' Is One of the Greatest Best Picture Winners Since 2000 |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a32406856/gladiator-movie-ridley-scott-20th-anniversary-essay/ |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=Esquire |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Tobias |first=Scott |date=2020-05-05 |title=Did Gladiator really deserve the best picture Oscar? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/05/gladitor-ridley-scott-russell-crowe-best-picture-oscar |access-date=2025-06-21 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The next year, he played the leading role in another notable film in his filmography, A Beautiful Mind (2001), delivering a successive acclaimed performance as the Nobel prize winning economist and schizophrenic patient John Nash. Crowe, once again, won multiple accolades. By this point in his career, he received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations, for The Insider, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind. All three films were also nominated for Best Picture, and both Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind won the award. Crowe became the first actor to star as the lead in back-to-back Best Picture winners since Walter Pidgeon (who starred in How Green Was My Valley [1941] and Mrs. Miniver [1942]).{{Cite web |date=2022-03-17 |title=There's a quirky best picture Oscar trend that is happening more and more |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/movies/actors-ve-oscar-winning-best-picture-consecutive-years-rcna20289 |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=TODAY.com |language=en}} Crowe declined the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy since he felt studios were pressuring filmmakers to cast him due to his recent successes.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-21 |title=Why did Russell Crowe turn down Lord of the Rings? |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/russell-crowe-reveals-why-he-turned-down-huge-lord-of-the-rings-role/W7HIDRI2RVB77J75T4VIR34GKA/ |access-date=2025-06-21 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}}

Within the six-year stretch from 1997 to 2003, Crowe also starred in two other best picture nominees, L.A. Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In 2005, he re-teamed with A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard for the biographical boxing drama Cinderella Man.

In 2006, he re-teamed with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for A Good Year, the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being American Gangster co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). Although the light romantic comedy of A Good Year was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films.{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe video interview |url=http://www.stv.tv/content/out/film/videointerviews/display.html?id=opencms:/out/films/video_interviews/russell_crowe_a_good_year_interview |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501091646/http://www.stv.tv/content/out/film/videointerviews/display.html?id=opencms%3A%2Fout%2Ffilms%2Fvideo_interviews%2Frussell_crowe_a_good_year_interview |archive-date=1 May 2008 |access-date=29 May 2007 |publisher=STV |format=Video}} By the latter half of 2000s, Crowe's box office standing declined, as he switched to playing mostly supporting characters, with occasional leading roles.{{Cite news |last=Williamson |first=Kevin |date=26 November 2010 |title=The fall of Russell Crowe |url=http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/2010/11/26/16331416.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630005343/http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/2010/11/26/16331416.html |archive-date=30 June 2017 |access-date=8 April 2011 |newspaper=Toronto Sun}} In 2007, he appeared alongside Christian Bale in the Western film 3:10 to Yuma, a remake of the 1957 film of the same name.{{cite news |url=http://www.observer.com/2007/training-day |title=Training Day |access-date=26 October 2007 |author=Andrew Sarris |author-link=Andrew Sarris |date=4 September 2007 |newspaper=The New York Observer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505083231/http://www.observer.com/2007/training-day |archive-date=5 May 2010 |url-status=dead }} He followed this up with Leonardo DiCaprio starrer action thriller Body of Lies (2008).

He starred in the 2009 political thriller State of Play, based on the BBC drama television series of the same name.{{cite web |last=Powers |first=Kevin |date=22 March 2008 |title=First Look at Russell Crowe in State of Play |url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/03/22/first-look-at-russell-crowe-in-state-of-play/ |access-date=26 March 2008 |work=Firstshowing.net |publisher=First Showing, LLC}} Crowe appeared in Robin Hood, a film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and released on 14 May 2010.{{Cite news |date=11 April 2009 |title=Robin Hood is coming in May of 2017 |publisher=ComingSoon.net |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=53628 |access-date=11 March 2009 |archive-date=13 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313053604/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=53628 |url-status=live }} During the Robin Hood shoot, Crowe fractured both of his legs doing a scene in which he "jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground" and said he "never discussed the injury with production, never took a day off because of it, I just kept going to work".{{cite web|url=https://people.com/russell-crowe-reveals-fractured-both-legs-during-robin-hood-shoot-just-kept-going-exclusive-8584385|title=Russell Crowe Reveals He Fractured Both Legs During Robin Hood Shoot: 'I Just Kept Going' (Exclusive)|date=17 February 2024|access-date=17 February 2024|website=People}} Crowe starred in the 2010 Paul Haggis film The Next Three Days, an adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour elle (Anything for Her).{{Cite news |last1=Fleming |first1=Michael |last2=Dave McNary |date=30 July 2009 |title=Russell Crowe to star in 'Three Days' |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/russell-crowe-to-star-in-three-days-1118006667/ |url-status=live |access-date=30 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802101511/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006667.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |archive-date=2 August 2009}}

After a year off from acting, Crowe played Jackknife in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), opposite RZA. He took on the role of Javert in the blockbuster musical film of Les Misérables (2012),{{Cite web |date=8 September 2011 |title=Russell Crowe Joins Les Miserables |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81882 |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=ComingSoon.net |archive-date=13 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013213046/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81882 |url-status=dead }} and portrayed Superman's biological father, Jor-El, in the Christopher Nolan-produced and Zack Snyder-directed film Man of Steel, released in the summer of 2013. In 2014, he played a gangster in the film adaptation of Mark Helprin's 1983 novel Winter's Tale, and the title role in the Darren Aronofsky's epic religious drama Noah, which earned well economically.{{Cite web |last=Silver |first=Stephen |title=Crowe On Board as "Noah" |url=http://www.technologytell.com/entertainment/511/crowe-on-board-as-noah/ |access-date=24 April 2012 |website=Entertainmenttell |publisher=technologytell.com |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701084026/http://www.technologytell.com/entertainment/511/crowe-on-board-as-noah/ |url-status=dead }}

Also in June 2013, Crowe signed to make his directorial debut with an historical drama film The Water Diviner, in which he also starred alongside Jacqueline McKenzie, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney.{{Cite news |date=18 June 2013 |title=Russell Crowe Plans Directorial Debut in Period Drama 'Water Diviner' |publisher=firstshowing.net |url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/russell-crowe-plans-directorial-debut-in-period-drama-water-diviner/ |access-date=19 June 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202437/http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/russell-crowe-plans-directorial-debut-in-period-drama-water-diviner/ |url-status=live }} Set in the year 1919, the film was produced by Troy Lum, Andrew Mason and Keith Rodger.{{Cite news |date=18 June 2013 |title=Russell Crowe Set To Make Feature Directing Debut With THE WATER DIVINER |publisher=twitchfilm.com |url=http://twitchfilm.com/2013/06/russell-crowe-set-to-make-feature-directing-debut-with-the-water-diviner.html |url-status=dead |access-date=19 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622071403/http://twitchfilm.com/2013/06/russell-crowe-set-to-make-feature-directing-debut-with-the-water-diviner.html |archive-date=22 June 2013}}

Crowe stated he is content with his career and does not care about people's reactions anymore. He has since chosen to pursue roles that excite him artistically or otherwise.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-19 |title=Russell Crowe Admits His Recent Movie Choices Are “Freaking People Out" |url=https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/6/14/russell-crowe-admits-his-recent-acting-choices-are-freaking-people-out |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=World of Reel |language=en-US}}

In recent years, his notable appearances have included an enforcer for hire in the cult classic The Nice Guys (2016), a major role in The Mummy (2017), starring as an angry driver in the action thriller Unhinged (2020),{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/russell-crowe-unhinged-solstice-studios-1203312049/|title=Russell Crowe Stars as an Angry Driver in First Look at 'Unhinged'|date=23 August 2019|access-date=12 May 2020|work=Variety|archive-date=3 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403032739/https://variety.com/2019/film/news/russell-crowe-unhinged-solstice-studios-1203312049/|url-status=live}} playing the mythical Greek god Zeus in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Love and Thunder (released 8 July 2022),{{Cite news |date=28 March 2021 |title='Thor: Love And Thunder': Russell Crowe Lands Role In Sequel |publisher=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2021/03/thor-love-and-thunder-russell-crowe-1234723853/ |url-status=live |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329173737/https://deadline.com/2021/03/thor-love-and-thunder-russell-crowe-1234723853/ |archive-date=29 March 2021}} portraying the famous exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth in The Pope's Exorcist (2023),{{Citation |last=Avery |first=Julius |title=The Pope's Exorcist |date=7 April 2023 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13375076/ |type=Horror |publisher=2.0 Entertainment, Jesus & Mary, Loyola Productions |access-date=23 August 2022 |archive-date=23 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823072009/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13375076/ |url-status=live }} and performing as Nikolai Kravinoff in Kraven The Hunter (2024).{{Cite web |last=Bankhurst |first=Adam |date=2023-06-19 |title=Kraven the Hunter Gets a First Trailer and Poster That Both Showcase the Brutal Spider-Man Villain |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/kraven-the-hunter-gets-a-first-trailer-and-poster-that-both-showcase-the-brutal-spider-man-villain |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=IGN |language=en}}

{{main|30 Odd Foot of Grunts}}

File:Russell Crowe cropped.JPG, Canada, 13 June 2005]]

In the 1980s, Crowe, under the name of "Russ le Roq", recorded a song titled "I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando".{{Cite news |last=Widdicombe |first=Ben |date=11 July 2004 |title=Gatecrasher |work=Daily News |location=New York |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/2004/07/11/2004-07-11_gatecrasher.html |url-status=dead |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518144602/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/2004/07/11/2004-07-11_gatecrasher.html |archive-date=18 May 2011}}

In the 1980s, Crowe and friend Billy Dean Cochran formed a band, Roman Antix, which later evolved into the Australian rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (abbreviated to TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band released The Photograph Kills EP in 1995, as well as three full-length records, Gaslight (1998), Bastard Life or Clarity (2001) and Other Ways of Speaking (2003). In 2000, TOFOG performed shows in London, Los Angeles and in Austin, Texas. In 2001, the band toured in the U.S. with dates in Austin, Boulder, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Hollywood, Philadelphia, New York City and the last show at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

In early 2005, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts as a group had "dissolved/evolved" with Crowe feeling his future music would take a new direction. He began a collaboration with Alan Doyle of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, and with it a new band emerged, the Ordinary Fear of God, which also involved some members of the previous TOFOG line-up. A new single, "Raewyn", was released in April 2005 and an album entitled My Hand, My Heart was released. The album includes a tribute song to actor Richard Harris, who became Crowe's friend during the making of Gladiator.

Crowe and his new band the Ordinary Fear of God (keeping the TOFOG acronym) toured Australia in 2005, and then the U.S. In 2006 they returned to the US to promote their new release My Hand, My Heart. In March 2010, the group's version of the John Williamson song "Winter Green" was included on a new compilation album The Absolute Best of John Williamson: 40 Years True Blue, commemorating the singer-songwriter's milestone of 40 years in the Australian music industry.[https://www.davidspicer.com.au/author/john-williamson John Williamson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327090348/http://www.davidspicer.com.au/author/john-williamson |date=27 March 2023 }}. David Spicer Productions. Australia.

On 2 August 2011, the third collaboration between Crowe and Doyle was released on iTunes as The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III, featuring nine original songs followed by their acoustic demo counterparts (for a total of 18 tracks). Danielle Spencer does guest vocals on most tracks. The release coincided with a pair of live performances at the LSPU Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.{{Cite web |date=4 August 2011 |title=Russell Crowe & Alan Doyle | The Crowe/Doyle Songbook, Vol. III |url=http://theindependent.ca/2011/08/04/russell-crowe-alan-doyle-the-crowedoyle-songbook-vol-iii/ |access-date=26 October 2011 |publisher=TheIndependent.ca |archive-date=16 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016093514/http://theindependent.ca/2011/08/04/russell-crowe-alan-doyle-the-crowedoyle-songbook-vol-iii/ |url-status=live }} The digital album was released as download versions only on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify. The album has since charted at No. 72 on the Canadian Albums Chart.{{Cite web |title=CANOE – JAM! Music SoundScan Charts |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20041226005640/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=26 December 2004 |access-date=26 October 2011 |publisher=Jam.canoe.ca }}

On 26 September 2011, Crowe appeared onstage at Rogers Arena in Vancouver in the middle of Keith Urban's concert. He sang a cover of "Folsom Prison Blues", before joining the rest of the band in a rendition of "The Joker".{{Cite web |last=Brad Schmitt |date=30 September 2011 |title=Russell Crowe Joins Keith Urban Onstage in Vancouver |url=http://www.countryweekly.com/news/russell-crowe-joins-keith-urban-onstage-vancouver |access-date=26 October 2011 |website=Country Weekly |archive-date=4 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104064728/http://www.countryweekly.com/news/russell-crowe-joins-keith-urban-onstage-vancouver |url-status=live }} On 18 August 2012, Crowe appeared along with Doyle at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Iceland as part of the city's Menningarnótt program.{{Cite web |date=18 August 2012 |title=Russell Crowe spilar meðal annars í Hörpunni |url=http://visir.is/russel-crowe-spilar-medal-annars-i-horpunni/article/2012120818988 |website=Vísir |language=is |access-date=19 August 2012 |archive-date=21 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821004612/http://www.visir.is/russel-crowe-spilar-medal-annars-i-horpunni/article/2012120818988 |url-status=live }}

In 2017, Crowe and Doyle had created a new act (with Samantha Barks,{{Cite web |title=Russell Crowe's Indoor Garden Party |url=http://www.southendtheatrescene.com/russell-crowes-indoor-garden-party.html |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=SOUTHEND THEATRE SCENE |archive-date=15 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115174045/http://www.southendtheatrescene.com/russell-crowes-indoor-garden-party.html |url-status=live }} Scott Grimes{{Cite web |title=Scott Grimes |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0342241/bio |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=IMDb |archive-date=7 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107220636/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0342241/bio |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 6 Music – Russell Crowe's Slow Sunday, 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009r1w |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=BBC |archive-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120230334/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009r1w |url-status=live }} and Carl Falk) called Indoor Garden Party{{Cite web |title=Indoor Garden Party | Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/indoor-garden-party-mn0003623827/biography |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=AllMusic |archive-date=27 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027142149/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/indoor-garden-party-mn0003623827/biography |url-status=live }} who appeared on The One Show{{Cite web |title=BBC One – The One Show, 27/09/2017 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b095vwc2 |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=BBC |archive-date=27 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027142148/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b095vwc2 |url-status=live }} to promote their album called The Musical.

On 27 June 2023, Crowe sang in concert with his band Indoor Garden Party in Bologna at the Teatro Comunale Nouveau. The concert was very successful, completely sold out. The total proceeds from the concert were entirely donated to the flood victims of Emilia-Romagna.{{cite news |title=Russell Crowe dedica il concerto di Bologna agli alluvionati: "Suoniamo per l'Emilia Romagna" |url=https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/spettacolo/russell-crowe-concerto-bologna-alluvionati_66566916-202302k.shtml |access-date=5 July 2023 |agency=tgcom24.mediaset.it |publisher=tgcom24.mediaset.it |date=28 June 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705010723/https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/spettacolo/russell-crowe-concerto-bologna-alluvionati_66566916-202302k.shtml |url-status=live }}

File:Crowe1.JPG donated by The Crowe Family in Centennial Park, New South Wales]]

During location filming of Cinderella Man, Crowe made a donation to a Jewish elementary school whose library had been damaged as a result of arson.{{Cite news |date=3 June 2005 |title=Celebrity Jews |newspaper=J |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/26211/celebrity-jews/ |access-date=2 August 2010 |publisher=Jweekly.com |archive-date=25 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925065221/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/26211/celebrity-jews/ |url-status=live }} A note with an anti-Semitic message had been left at the scene.{{Cite web |date=20 January 2005 |title=News Briefs |url=http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/articles.cfm?articleID=219&day=27&month=11§ion=news&year=2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402134144/http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/articles.cfm?articleID=219&day=27&month=11§ion=news&year=2006 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |access-date=2 August 2010 |publisher=Gazette.uwo.ca}} Crowe called school officials to express his concern and wanted his message relayed to the students.{{Cite news |date=29 April 2004 |title=Crowe's charitable act |work=The Age |location=Australia |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/29/1083103560158.html |access-date=2 August 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511205231/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/29/1083103560158.html |url-status=live }} The school's building fund received donations from throughout Canada and the amount of Crowe's donation was not disclosed.{{Cite web |date=16 December 2004 |title=Teen pleads guilty to Jewish school firebombing |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1103211951012_8/?hub=CTVNewsAt11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013153802/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1103211951012_8/?hub=CTVNewsAt11 |archive-date=13 October 2007 |access-date=2 August 2010 |publisher=Ctv.ca}}

On another occasion, Crowe donated {{nowrap|A$200,000}} to a struggling primary school near his home in rural Australia. The money went towards an {{nowrap|A$800,000}} project to construct a swimming pool at the school. Crowe's sympathies were sparked when a pupil drowned at the nearby Coffs Harbour beach in 2001, and he felt the pool would help students become better swimmers and improve their water safety. At the opening ceremony, he dived into the pool fully clothed as soon as it was declared open. Nana Glen principal Laurie Renshall said, "The many things he does up here, people just don't know about. We've been trying to get a pool for 10 years."{{cite news |title=Rusty the Pool Man |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=29 July 2005}} Cited in {{Cite web |title=July 29 |url=http://thoroughlyrussellcrowe.com/onthisdayin/jul/jul29.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306210642/http://thoroughlyrussellcrowe.com/onthisdayin/jul/jul29.html |archive-date=6 March 2012 |publisher=Thoroughly Russell Crowe}}

In August 2020, Crowe donated {{nowrap|US$5,000}} to a fundraiser on GoFundMe by filmmaker Amanda Bailly and journalist Richard Hall to help rebuild Le Chef, a restaurant which was destroyed in the 2020 Beirut explosion.{{Cite web|last=Ramos|first=Dino-Ray|date=17 August 2020|title=Russell Crowe Makes Generous Donation To Rebuild Beirut Restaurant On Behalf Of Anthony Bourdain|url=https://deadline.com/2020/08/russell-crowe-beirut-lebanon-le-chef-anthony-bourdain-charbel-bassil-1203014953/|access-date=16 August 2021|website=Deadline Hollywood|language=en-US|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816041626/https://deadline.com/2020/08/russell-crowe-beirut-lebanon-le-chef-anthony-bourdain-charbel-bassil-1203014953/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=O'Reilly|first=Bill|date=13 August 2020|title=Russell Crowe donates to Beirut restaurant loved by Anthony Bourdain|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russell-crowe-donates-beirut-restaurant-loved-anthony-bourdain-n1236596|access-date=16 August 2021|website=NBC News|language=en|archive-date=17 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817145126/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russell-crowe-donates-beirut-restaurant-loved-anthony-bourdain-n1236596|url-status=live}} The fundraiser aimed to raise {{nowrap|US$15,000}}, but it had raised approximately {{nowrap|US$19,000}} as of 16 August. In response to Hall noting the donation, Crowe tweeted: "On behalf of Anthony Bourdain. I thought he probably would have done so if he was still around. I wish you and Le Chef the best and hope things can be put back together soon."

In June 2023, Crowe agreed with the organisers of a concert of his band Indoor Garden Party in Bologna to donate the full revenue to the victims of the Emilia-Romagna floods.{{Cite web |last=Crowe |first=Russell |date=2 June 2023 |title=Russell Crowe on Twitter: 'I will post more details soon, but, just for your information, the organisers of our concert in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, June 27 will donate the proceeds of the concert to the victims of the recent floods that have affected so many people in the region.' |url=https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/1664565932654759937 |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=Twitter |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603073846/https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/1664565932654759937 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2 June 2023 |title=Russell Crowe in concerto a Bologna: «Il ricavato alle vittime dell'alluvione in Emilia-Romagna» |url=https://corrieredibologna.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/23_giugno_02/russell-crowe-in-concerto-a-bologna-il-ricavato-alle-vittime-dell-alluvione-in-emilia-romagna-f37c47a7-baaa-465a-87a9-9875df187xlk.shtml |url-access=limited |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=Corriere della Sera |language=it-IT |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603015733/https://corrieredibologna.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/23_giugno_02/russell-crowe-in-concerto-a-bologna-il-ricavato-alle-vittime-dell-alluvione-in-emilia-romagna-f37c47a7-baaa-465a-87a9-9875df187xlk.shtml |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2 June 2023 |title=Russell Crowe, il ricavato del concerto di Bologna agli alluvionati |url=https://tg24.sky.it/spettacolo/musica/2023/06/02/russell-crowe-concerto-bologna-alluvione |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=Sky TG24 |language=it-IT |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603055234/https://tg24.sky.it/spettacolo/musica/2023/06/02/russell-crowe-concerto-bologna-alluvione |url-status=live }}

File:Russell Crowe North Sydney Bears.jpg game in 2017]]

He has been the co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006; Crowe has been a supporter of the team since childhood. After his rise to fame as an actor, he has continued appearing at home games and supported the financially troubled club. Following the Super League war of the 1990s, he made an attempt to use his Hollywood connections to convince Ted Turner, a rival of Super League's Rupert Murdoch, to save the Rabbitohs before they were forced from the NRL competition for two years.{{Cite news |last=Weidler |first=Danny |date=12 July 1998 |title=Banking on Burt |page=96 |work=The Sun-Herald |location=Australia |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news980715_0462_0394 |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615162623/http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news980715_0462_0394 |url-status=live }} In 1999, Crowe paid {{nowrap|A$42,000}} at auction for the brass bell used to open the inaugural rugby league match in Australia in 1908 at a fundraiser to assist Souths' legal battle for re-inclusion in the league.{{Cite news |last=Kent |first=Paul |date=22 November 1999 |title=Emotions run high at fighting fund function, as Rabbitohs plan their next wave |page=33 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Farfax |location=Australia |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news991122_0355_4050 |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615162630/http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news991122_0355_4050 |url-status=live }} In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his film Cinderella Man on their jerseys.{{Cite news |last=Australian Associated Press |date=11 March 2005 |title=Crowe sees ad trend |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Australia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/League/Crowe-sees-ad-trend/2005/03/10/1110417615712.html |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=6 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106105622/http://www.smh.com.au/news/League/Crowe-sees-ad-trend/2005/03/10/1110417615712.html |url-status=live }}

On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court to purchase 75% of the organisation, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It cost them {{nowrap|A$3 million}}, and they received four of eight seats on the board of directors. A six-part television miniseries entitled South Side Story depicting the takeover aired in Australia in 2007.{{Cite web |last=M/C Reviews |title=Television: South Side Story – Who will Russell be next week? |url=http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2187 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312000152/http://www.reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2187 |archive-date=12 March 2011 |access-date=10 April 2010 |publisher=Reviews.media-culture.org.au}}

On 5 November 2006, Crowe appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to announce that Firepower International was sponsoring the South Sydney Rabbitohs for {{nowrap|US$3 million}} over three years,Ryle, Gerald [https://www.smh.com.au/news/business/where-theres-smoke-its-a-job-for-firepower/2007/02/23/1171734017315.html Where there's smoke it's a job for Firepower] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705083152/http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/where-theres-smoke-its-a-job-for-firepower/2007/02/23/1171734017315.html |date=5 July 2017 }}Sydney Morning Herald. 24 February 2007 showing viewers a Rabbitoh playing jersey with Firepower's name emblazoned on it.McDonald, Margie [https://archive.today/20120731145147/http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,,20730820-23214,00.html Souths introduce random tests]Foxsports, 10 November 2006

Crowe helped to organise a rugby league game that took place at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, Florida, between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the 2007 Super League Grand Final winners the Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day). Crowe told ITV Local Yorkshire the game was not a marketing exercise.{{Cite news |last=ITV Local |date=28 January 2006 |title=Stone the Crowes |url=http://www.itvlocal.com/yorkshire/sport/?void=144869 |access-date=28 January 2008 |archive-date=11 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311001108/http://www.itvlocal.com/yorkshire/sport/?void=144869 |url-status=live }}

Crowe wrote a letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper following the sacking of South Sydney's coach Jason Taylor and one of their players David Fa'alogo after a drunken altercation between the two at the end of the 2009 NRL season.{{Cite web |date=15 September 2009 |title=No room for any sympathy |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/no-room-for-any-sympathy-by-russell-crowe/news-story/e1e48fdcdc8a08f2bc776649d04870e5 |access-date=7 January 2020 |website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au}}

Also in 2009, Crowe persuaded young England international forward Sam Burgess to sign with the Rabbitohs over other clubs that were competing for his signature, after inviting Burgess and his mother to the set of Robin Hood, which he was filming in Britain at the time.{{Cite news |last=Laybourn |first=Ian |year=2009 |title=Burgess – crowe clinched souths deal |work=Sporting Life |publisher=365 Media Group Ltd |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/09/10/27/manual_155130.html |access-date=29 October 2009 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605032721/http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/09/10/27/manual_155130.html |url-status=live }}

Crowe's influence helped to persuade noted player Greg Inglis to renege on his deal to join the Brisbane Broncos and sign for the Rabbitohs for 2011.{{Cite news |last=Walter |first=Brad |date=9 November 2010 |title=Crowe has kept me in the game, says Inglis |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Australia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/crowe-has-kept-me-in-the-game-says-inglis-20101108-17kjl.html |access-date=12 November 2010 |archive-date=11 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111135629/http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/crowe-has-kept-me-in-the-game-says-inglis-20101108-17kjl.html |url-status=live }}

In 2010, the NRL was investigating Crowe's business relationships with a number of media and entertainment companies including Channel Nine, Channel Seven, ANZ Stadium and V8 Supercars in relation to the South Sydney Rabbitohs' salary cap.{{Cite news |last=Phil Rothfield & Rebecca Wilson |date=5 December 2010 |title=Crowe subject of NRL cap probe |work=The Telegraph |publisher=News Ltd |location=Australia |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/crowe-subject-of-nrl-cap-probe/story-e6freye0-1225965672455 |access-date=7 December 2010 |archive-date=6 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206174208/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/crowe-subject-of-nrl-cap-probe/story-e6freye0-1225965672455 |url-status=live }}

In 2011, Souths also announced a corporate partnership with the bookmaking conglomerate Luxbet.{{Cite news |last=Barrett |first=Chris |date=26 January 2011 |title=Gallop moves to allay concern as Souths take plunge on Star City deal |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Australia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/gallop-moves-to-allay-concern-as-souths-take-plunge-on-star-city-deal-20110125-1a4a9.html |access-date=26 January 2011 |archive-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128071853/http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/gallop-moves-to-allay-concern-as-souths-take-plunge-on-star-city-deal-20110125-1a4a9.html |url-status=live }}

Previously, Crowe had been prominent in trying to prevent gambling being associated with the Rabbitohs.{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Rob |date=3 January 2008 |title=Russell Crowe rallies against gambling |work=Reuters |location=Australia |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYD3782620080103 |access-date=26 January 2011 |archive-date=7 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107140938/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYD3782620080103 |url-status=live }}

In May 2011, Crowe helped arrange to have Fox broadcast the 2011 State of Origin series live for the first time in the United States, in addition to the NRL Grand Final.{{Cite news |last=Massoud |first=Josh |date=26 May 2011 |title=Russell Crowe facilitates live State of Origin coverage into US |work=Herald Sun |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/russell-crowe-facilitates-live-state-of-origin-coverage-into-us/story-e6frfghx-1226063021257 |access-date=11 June 2011 |archive-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505230626/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/russell-crowe-facilitates-live-state-of-origin-coverage-into-us/story-e6frfghx-1226063021257 |url-status=dead }}

In November 2012 the South Sydney Rabbitohs confirmed that Russell Crowe was selling his 37.5 per cent stake in the club.{{Cite news |date=19 November 2012 |title=Rabbitohs confirm Crowe selling stake |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |location=Australia |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-19/rabbitohs-confirm-crowe-selling-up/4379510 |access-date=22 November 2012 |archive-date=22 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122143136/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-19/rabbitohs-confirm-crowe-selling-up/4379510 |url-status=live }}

At the Rabbitohs Annual General Meeting on 3 March 2013, Chairman Nick Pappas claimed Crowe "would not be selling his shareholding in the short-to-medium term and at this stage has no intention of selling at all".{{Cite news |last=Walter |first=Brad |date=4 March 2013 |title=Crowe holding on to Souths ownership |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Australia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/crowe-holding-on-to-souths-ownership-20130304-2ffa1.html |access-date=4 March 2013 |archive-date=6 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306035916/http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/crowe-holding-on-to-souths-ownership-20130304-2ffa1.html |url-status=live }}

Crowe was a guest presenter at the 2013 Dally M Awards{{Cite news |last=Hindis |first=Richard |date=3 October 2013 |title=NRL has finally got it right with Dally M and Grand Final week |work=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/richard-hinds-nrl-has-gotten-it-right-with-dally-m-and-grand-final-week/story-fni3fh9n-1226731846986 |access-date=26 October 2013 |archive-date=3 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003010331/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/richard-hinds-nrl-has-gotten-it-right-with-dally-m-and-grand-final-week/story-fni3fh9n-1226731846986 |url-status=live }} and presented the prestigious Dally M Medal to winner Cooper Cronk.{{Cite news |last=Chandra |first=Jessica |date=2 October 2013 |title=NRL Stars and Glamorous WAGs Light Up the Dally M Awards |publisher=popsugar.com.au |url=http://www.popsugar.com.au/2013-Dally-M-Awards-NRL-Players-WAGs-Red-Carpet-Pictures-32018814 |access-date=26 October 2013 |archive-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015181638/http://www.popsugar.com.au/2013-Dally-M-Awards-NRL-Players-WAGs-Red-Carpet-Pictures-32018814 |url-status=live }} Russell was present at the 2014 NRL Grand Final when the Rabbitohs won the NRL premiership for the first time in 43 years.{{Cite news |last=Tedeschi |first=Nick |date=7 October 2014 |title=South Sydney Rabbitohs' grand final win is Russell Crowe's creation |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/australia-culture-blog/2014/oct/07/south-sydney-rabbitohs-grand-final-win-is-russell-crowes-creation |access-date=30 January 2016 |archive-date=11 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911062214/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/australia-culture-blog/2014/oct/07/south-sydney-rabbitohs-grand-final-win-is-russell-crowes-creation |url-status=live }}

Two of his cousins, Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe, captained the New Zealand national cricket team.{{Cite news |date=7 January 2015 |title=Inspirational Martin Crowe's eyes on Cricket World Cup |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11383293 |access-date=25 March 2015 |archive-date=16 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116141231/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11383293 |url-status=live }}

Crowe watches and plays cricket, and captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match.{{Cite news |date=20 January 2008 |title=Russell Crowe captains cricket side | Herald Sun |publisher=News.com.au |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23078250-662,00.html |access-date=10 April 2010 |archive-date=7 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207001926/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23078250-662,00.html |url-status=live }} On 17 July 2009, Crowe took to the commentary box for British sports channel Sky Sports as the 'third man' during the second Test of the 2009 Ashes series, between England and Australia.{{Cite news |title=Holding Delighted to work with Crowe |publisher=Sky Sports |url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12940_5292427,00.html |access-date=10 April 2010 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121023327/http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12940_5292427,00.html |url-status=live }}

Crowe is a fan of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.{{Cite news |last=Orzessek |first=Eli |date=29 October 2015 |title=Rugby World Cup final: All Blacks have the best celebrity fans |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11536519 |access-date=13 March 2020 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807011159/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11536519 |url-status=live }}

He is friends with Lloyd Carr, the former coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines American football team, and Carr used Crowe's movie Cinderella Man to motivate his 2006 team following a 7–5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his rugby league team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which Carr did the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' 0–2 start, Crowe travelled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame to show his support for Carr. He addressed the team before the game and watched from the sidelines as the Wolverines defeated the Irish 38–0.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012|reason=for this paragraph}}

Crowe is also a fan of the National Football League. On 22 October 2007, Crowe appeared in the booth of a Monday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars.[https://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2007-11-04-cbs-pats-colts_N.htm "CBS announcers let Patriots-Colts game speak for itself"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121091146/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2007-11-04-cbs-pats-colts_N.htm |date=21 November 2009 }} USA Today, 4 November 2007

He is also a fan of Leeds United and narrated the Amazon Prime documentary Take Us Home: Leeds United.{{Cite news |last=Video |first=Source: Prime |date=24 July 2019 |title=Take Us Home: Leeds United docu-series on Bielsa's first season, narrated by Russell Crowe – trailer |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2019/jul/24/take-us-home-leeds-united-docu-series-marcelo-bielsa-russell-crowe-trailer |access-date=14 April 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806195826/https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2019/jul/24/take-us-home-leeds-united-docu-series-marcelo-bielsa-russell-crowe-trailer |url-status=live }}

File:Russell Crowe Danielle Spencer Sept 14 2011.jpg in September 2011]]

In 1989, Crowe met Australian singer Danielle Spencer while working on the film The Crossing and the two began an on-again, off-again relationship.{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Samantha |date=21 April 2003 |title=A Beautiful Time: A Teary Russell Crowe Weds Danielle Spencer Amid a Down Under Weekend of Camaraderie, Cricket and ABBA |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139818,00.html |journal=People |volume=59 |issue=15 |access-date=20 November 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826061956/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139818,00.html |url-status=live }} In 2000, he became romantically involved with American actress Meg Ryan while working on their film Proof of Life.{{Cite web |date=3 April 2009 |title=Meg Ryan admits to breaking Russell Crowe's heart |url=http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/meg-ryan-admits-to-breaking-russell-crowes-heart-20090403-9qzr.html |access-date=16 August 2012 |website=The Age |archive-date=11 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911062028/http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/meg-ryan-admits-to-breaking-russell-crowes-heart-20090403-9qzr.html |url-status=dead }} In 2001, Crowe and Spencer reconciled, and they married two years later in April 2003. The wedding took place at Crowe's cattle property in Nana Glen, New South Wales, with the ceremony taking place on Crowe's 39th birthday.{{Cite news |last=Quaintance |first=Lauren |date=20 April 2010 |title=What Danielle Spencer knows about men |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |format=Interview |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/what-danielle-spencer-knows-about-men-20100420-sq2d.html |access-date=20 November 2011 |archive-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207050820/http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/what-danielle-spencer-knows-about-men-20100420-sq2d.html |url-status=live }} The couple have two sons: Charles Spencer Crowe (born 21 December 2003){{Cite news |date=22 December 2003 |title=Russell Crowe and wife have baby boy |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88862580.html |url-status=dead |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518111551/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-88862580.html |archive-date=18 May 2013}} and Tennyson Spencer Crowe (born 7 July 2006).{{Cite web |date=7 July 2006 |title=Russell Crowe, Wife Have a Boy |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1208356,00.html |access-date=14 October 2012 |website=People |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826043754/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1208356,00.html |url-status=dead }} In October 2012, it was reported that Crowe and Spencer had separated.{{Cite web |last=Sams |first=Christine |date=14 October 2012 |title=Crowe, Spencer split amid actor's hectic filming schedule |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/crowe-spencer-split-amid-actors-hectic-filming-schedule-20121014-27kwk.html |access-date=14 October 2012 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014142524/http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/crowe-spencer-split-amid-actors-hectic-filming-schedule-20121014-27kwk.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Phillp |first=Matthew |title=How Russell Crowe Turned His Divorce Auction Into a Multi-Million-Dollar Career Boost |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/04/russell-crowe-divorce-auction |website=Vanities |date=9 April 2018 |access-date=10 April 2018 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810224144/https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/04/russell-crowe-divorce-auction |url-status=live }} They divorced in April 2018.{{Cite web |last=Burns |first=Lindsey |date=10 April 2018 |title=Russell Crowe Has Finalized His Divorce After Five-Year Separation From Wife Danielle Spencer |url=http://www.closerweekly.com/posts/russell-crowe-ex-wife-danielle-spencer-divorce-157836 |access-date=11 April 2018 |website=Closer Weekly |archive-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428202906/https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/russell-crowe-ex-wife-danielle-spencer-divorce-157836/ |url-status=live }}

A longtime resident of Nana Glen, Crowe is well known in the community and is a frequent patron of the local rugby games. During the Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020, he raised over {{nowrap|A$400,000}} for the NSW RFS by selling his South Sydney Rabbitohs hat in an online auction.{{Cite web |date=27 November 2019 |title=Rusty's dirty hat has sold, resulting in a huge donation to the NSW RFS |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/russell-crowe-auctions-souths-hat-to-raise-money-for-fireys/news-story/7acbaea26712bb8fbe0cf49bac141f88 |website=NewsComAu |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308102906/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/russell-crowe-auctions-souths-hat-to-raise-money-for-fireys/news-story/7acbaea26712bb8fbe0cf49bac141f88 |url-status=live }}

On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that prior to his attending the 73rd Academy Awards, FBI agents had approached him and told him that the terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him.{{Cite web |last=Kevin Roxburgh |title=Russell Crowe Biography |url=http://www.american-gangster.net/russell-crowe-biography.php |access-date=26 October 2011 |publisher=american-gangster.net |archive-date=3 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903220425/http://www.american-gangster.net/russell-crowe-biography.php |url-status=dead }} He recalled, "It was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers... it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan."O'Riordan, Bernard. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/09/alqaida.film How Bin Laden put the word out: get Russell Crowe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923004714/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/09/alqaida.film |date=23 September 2016 }}, The Guardian, 9 March 2005. Retrieved 12 July 2008.

At the beginning of 2009, Crowe appeared in a series of Australian special-edition postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen", featuring Australian actors. Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, and Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series, once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-nominated character. Crowe is the only non-Australian to appear in the stamps.[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20256753,00.html "Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman Happy to Be Licked – On Stamps."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205150210/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20256753,00.html |date=5 February 2009 }} People Alan Doyle. 4 February 2009.

In June 2010, Crowe, who started smoking when he was 10, announced he had quit for the sake of his two sons.{{cite news |title=My son made me feel ashamed – Crowe |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/my-smoking-habit-was-bigger-than-ben-hur-says-russell-crowe-ng-336dce9b870cc771b2ba9ade03ef5c0f#:~:text=RUSSELL%20Crowe%20has%20revealed%20the,out%20a%20late%2Dnight%20cigarette. |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=PerthNow |date=27 July 2010 |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324131643/https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/my-smoking-habit-was-bigger-than-ben-hur-says-russell-crowe-ng-336dce9b870cc771b2ba9ade03ef5c0f#:~:text=RUSSELL%20Crowe%20has%20revealed%20the,out%20a%20late%2Dnight%20cigarette. |url-status=live }} In November, he told David Letterman that he had smoked more than 60 cigarettes a day for 36 years, and that he had "fallen off the wagon" the night before the interview and smoked heavily.{{Cite magazine |last=Snyder |first=Steven James |date=11 November 2010 |title=The Night Shift: Now A Serious Word or Two From Russell Crowe (Video) |magazine=Time |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2010/11/11/the-night-shift-now-a-serious-word-about-smoking-with-russell-crowe-video/}}

On 20 December 2022, Crowe was appointed by the mayor of Rome to be its ambassador of Rome in the world.

On the day of the appointment, Crowe declared that it would be important to host the next FIFA World Cup in Italy.{{cite news |title=Russell Crowe diventa "Ambasciatore di Roma nel mondo" |url=https://www.agi.it/cronaca/news/2022-10-14/russell-crowe-diventa-ambasciatore-roma-nel-mondo-18446122/ |access-date=20 December 2022 |agency=agi.it |publisher=agi.it |date=20 December 2022 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817145627/https://www.agi.it/cronaca/news/2022-10-14/russell-crowe-diventa-ambasciatore-roma-nel-mondo-18446122/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Russell Crowe diventa "Ambasciatore di Roma nel mondo" |url=https://tg24.sky.it/roma/2022/10/14/russell-crowe-ambasciatore-roma-mondo |access-date=20 December 2022 |agency=tg24.sky.it |publisher=tg24.sky.it |date=20 December 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220200952/https://tg24.sky.it/roma/2022/10/14/russell-crowe-ambasciatore-roma-mondo |url-status=live }}

In July 2023, on holiday in Italy visiting the archaeological site of Ostia Antica, to please fans of Gladiator, including those who asked about the sequel, Crowe pretended to have a phone conversation with Cicero, servant of Crowe's character Maximus. 'Max' asks Cicero where the men are, why they have gone away, then says he understands why: "I'm dead... It's perfectly understandable."

{{cite news |title=Russell Crowe torna Gladiatore a Ostia Antica: "Hey, sono Max. Ma dove sono finiti gli uomini?" |url=https://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2023/07/07/news/russell_crowe_ostia_antica_gladiatore_video-407000363/ |access-date=7 July 2023 |agency=roma.repubblica.it |publisher=roma.repubblica.it |date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707212658/https://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2023/07/07/news/russell_crowe_ostia_antica_gladiatore_video-407000363/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Russell Crowe a Roma per Il Gladiatore 2? Foto e selfie in centro |url=https://www.iltempo.it/personaggi/2023/07/07/gallery/russell-crowe-roma-ostia-gladiatore2-foto-video-36315366/ |access-date=7 July 2023 |agency=iltempo.it |publisher=iltempo.it |date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707213116/https://www.iltempo.it/personaggi/2023/07/07/gallery/russell-crowe-roma-ostia-gladiatore2-foto-video-36315366/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/gladiator-2-maximus-reprisal-cicero-call-russell-crowe-video/|title=Gladiator 2: Russell Crowe Challenges Original Movie Betrayal While In Rome|date=7 July 2023|website=ScreenRant|access-date=6 September 2023|archive-date=22 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822095417/https://screenrant.com/gladiator-2-maximus-reprisal-cicero-call-russell-crowe-video/|url-status=live}}

Crowe has supported the Australian Labor Party (ALP).{{cite tweet|url=https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/360201456705478656|number=360201456705478656|title= @conceravota @hilto80 I don't get a vote, but I will have an opinion. Been a labour supporter all my life, right now we need a statesman|user=russellcrowe|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=2 May 2022}} He endorsed former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard in June 2013,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/25/russell-crowe-lack-of-gallantry|title=Russell Crowe condemns 'lack of gallantry' in Australian politics|work=The Guardian|date=25 June 2013|accessdate=2 May 2022|archive-date=2 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502162047/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/25/russell-crowe-lack-of-gallantry|url-status=live}} and narrated an advertisement for the Labor Party's election campaign in May 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/rusty-lends-his-voice-to-albanese-s-big-show-20220501-p5ahlc.html|title=Rusty lends his voice to Albanese's big show|work=The Age|first1=Stephen|last1=Brook|first2=Samantha|last2=Hutchinson|date=2 May 2022|accessdate=2 May 2022|archive-date=1 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501212752/https://www.theage.com.au/national/rusty-lends-his-voice-to-albanese-s-big-show-20220501-p5ahlc.html|url-status=live}} Crowe has been an outspoken critic of Australia's immigration detention facilities, describing them as "a nation's shame" and "fucking disgraceful". In November 2017, Crowe offered to resettle displaced refugees who were held in Australia's offshore detention facility on Manus Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fing-disgraceful-russell-crowe-unloads-on-manus-island-crisis-20171102-gzdaxr.html|title='F—ing disgraceful': Russell Crowe unloads on Manus Island crisis|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Fergus|last=Hunter|date=2 November 2017|accessdate=2 May 2022|archive-date=2 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502162047/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fing-disgraceful-russell-crowe-unloads-on-manus-island-crisis-20171102-gzdaxr.html|url-status=live}}

File:Russell crowe nypd.jpg in handcuffs to his arraignment for the phone-throwing incident, 6 June 2005]]

Between 1999 and 2005, Crowe was involved in four altercations, which gave him a reputation for having a bad temper.{{Cite news |last=Schorn |first=Daniel |date=2 November 2006 |title=Explaining Russell Crowe |publisher=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/explaining-russell-crowe/ |access-date=1 July 2007 |archive-date=8 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208121842/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/explaining-russell-crowe/ |url-status=live }}

In 1999, Crowe was involved in an altercation with a woman at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, in which he was caught on a security camera kissing a man trying to placate him.{{Cite news |last=Sutton |first=Candace |date=7 April 2002 |title=Russell's brawl no Oscar winner |work=The Sun-Herald}} Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail him.{{Cite magazine |last=Hiatt |first=Brian |date=25 June 2002 |title=Counting Crowe |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/2002/06/25/judge-tosses-russell-crowe-blackmail-case/ |access-date=24 February 2014}}

In 2002, when part of Crowe's appearance at that year's BAFTA Awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a Patrick Kavanagh poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris, which was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, saying, "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been."{{Cite news |last= |date=4 March 2002 |title=Crowe sorry over Bafta outburst |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1853227.stm |access-date=28 May 2007 |archive-date=12 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212221631/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1853227.stm |url-status=live }}

Later in 2002, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a brawl with businessman Eric Watson inside the London branch of Zuma, a Japanese restaurant chain{{emdash}}the fight was broken up by English actor Ross Kemp.{{Cite news |last= |date=14 November 2002 |title=Crowe in restaurant 'brawl' |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/2472145.stm |access-date=28 May 2007 |archive-date=18 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618090608/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/2472145.stm |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last= |date=14 November 2002 |title=Russell Crowe and Eric Watson in London brawl |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=3004358 |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230115700/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=3004358 |url-status=live }}

In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by the NYPD after he threw a telephone at the concierge of the Mercer Hotel who had refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from Crowe's room. He was also charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone).{{Cite news |last= |date=6 June 2005 |title=Russell Crowe appears in court |publisher=CNN |location=New York |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/06/crowe.arrest/ |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302051907/http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/06/crowe.arrest/ |url-status=live }} The concierge was treated for a facial laceration.{{Cite news |last=Resnick |first=Rachel |date=November 2005 |title=Russell Crowe gets slap on the wrist for phone-throwing |work=The Justice}} After his arrest, Crowe underwent a perp walk, a procedure customary in New York City, exposing the handcuffed suspect to the news media to take pictures. This procedure was under discussion as potentially violating Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023|reason=for this sentence regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights}} Crowe later described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in".{{Cite news |last= |date=18 November 2005 |title=Crowe admits hotel phone assault |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4451302.stm |access-date=28 May 2007 |archive-date=11 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111182308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4451302.stm |url-status=live }} Crowe pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged. Before the trial, he settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada.{{Cite book |last=MacKenzie |first=Margaret A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0275991253 |title=Courting the Media: Public Relations for the Accused and the Accuser |date=30 November 2006 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0-275-99125-8 |page=14 |access-date=26 April 2010}}{{Cite book |last=Siegel |first=Larry J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0495599778 |title=Introduction to Criminal Justice |date=5 January 2009 |publisher=Wadsworth Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-495-59977-7 |access-date=26 April 2010}} Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but amounts in the six-figure range have been reported.{{Cite news |last=Rush |first=George |date=25 August 2005 |title=Crowe & Clerk in 6-figure deal. Actor near to paying off hotel worker in phone beaning |work=Daily News |location=New York |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/crowe-clerk-6-figure-deal-actor-paying-hotel-worker-phone-beaning-article-1.557952 |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-date=28 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228135317/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/crowe-clerk-6-figure-deal-actor-paying-hotel-worker-phone-beaning-article-1.557952 |url-status=live }}

The telephone incident had a generally negative impact on Crowe's public image, an example of negative public relations in the mass media, although Crowe had made a point of befriending Australian journalists in an effort to influence his image.{{Cite web |date=7 June 2006 |title=I Was Russell Crowe's stooge |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-i-was-russell-crowes-stooge/2006/06/06/1149359738242.html |access-date=12 June 2014 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621151211/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-i-was-russell-crowes-stooge/2006/06/06/1149359738242.html |url-status=live }} The South Park episode "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer" revolves around a lampooning of his aggressive tendencies. Crowe commented on the ongoing media coverage in November 2010, during an interview with American television talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose: "I think it indelibly changed me. It was a very, very minor situation that was made into something outrageous. More violence was perpetrated on me walking between the car to the courtroom with the waiting media than anything I'd done ... it very definitely affected me ... psychologically."{{Cite interview |last=Crowe |first=Russell |interviewer=Charlie Rose |title=Russell Crowe |url=https://charlierose.com/videos/13103 |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121041933/https://charlierose.com/videos/13103 |archive-date=21 November 2017 |url-status=live |work=Charlie Rose |date=18 November 2010}}

In October 2016, Azealia Banks filed a police report against Crowe, claiming that he choked and spat at her before proceeding to call her the 'n-word' during a party in his hotel suite. However, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office dropped the case in December. The following year during an interview with The Breakfast Club, RZA acknowledged only Banks’ claim that Crowe had spat, though "on the floor" rather than at her directly, going on to condemn her alleged "obnoxious and erratic" behaviour.{{Cite web |title=Azealia Banks and Russell Crowe clash over hotel party altercation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/17/azealia-banks-russell-crowe-hotel-altercation |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=The Guardian |date=17 October 2016 |last1=Smith |first1=Nigel M. }}{{Cite web |title=Updated: RZA Admits Russell Crowe Did Spit at Azealia Banks, As She Originally Claimed |url=https://www.papermag.com/rza-azealia-banks-russell-crowe |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Paper }} Crowe asserted that he removed Banks from the premises because she had threatened to physically assault other attendees.{{Cite news |title='Racist, misogynist pig': Azealia Banks responds after Russell Crowe hotel room fracas

|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/racist-misogynist-pig-azealia-banks-responds-after-russell-crowe/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=The Telegraph |date=19 October 2016 |last1=Saunders |first1=Tristram Fane }} RZA denied hearing Crowe use the 'n-word' and confirmed Crowe's account of threats of violence by Banks, saying "(Banks) threatened to cut a girl in the face with a glass, then actually (grabbed) a glass and physically (attacked) for no logical reason. Russell blocked the attack and removed her from the suite."BBC News. 21 October 2016. "RZA backs Russell Crowe in Azaelia Banks row, says the rapper is 'obnoxious'." https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-37725956

{{main|Russell Crowe filmography|List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe}}

Crowe's most acclaimed and highest-grossing films, according to the online portal Box Office Mojo and the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, include L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), State of Play (2009), Robin Hood (2010), Les Misérables (2012), Man of Steel (2013), Noah (2014), The Nice Guys (2016), The Mummy (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Land of Bad (2024).{{cite web |url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/name/nm0000128/ |title = Russell Crowe Movie Box Office Results |publisher = Box Office Mojo |access-date = 17 July 2022 |archive-date = 17 July 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220717124507/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/name/nm0000128/ |url-status = live }}{{cite web |url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/russell_crowe |title = Russell Crowe |publisher = Rotten Tomatoes |access-date = 17 July 2022 |archive-date = 17 July 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220717124503/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/russell_crowe |url-status = live }}

Crowe won an Academy Award in the Best Actor category for his performance in Gladiator, and has been nominated two more times for Best Actor for The Insider and A Beautiful Mind, making him the ninth actor to have received three consecutive Academy Award nominations. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for A Beautiful Mind and Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for The Loudest Voice (2019); He has been nominated four more times: Best Actor in a Drama for The Insider, Gladiator, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Cinderella Man.{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/russell-crowe |title=Winners & Nominees: Russell Crowe |publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association |access-date=17 July 2022 |archive-date=17 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717125340/https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/russell-crowe |url-status=live }}

{{Portal|Film|Sports}}

• List of NRL club owners
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