Russell Crowe Once Bought a Dinosaur Head From Leonardo DiCaprio

Russell Crowe is known for being one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, but few people know how committed he is to making his kids happy.

In fact, he loves them so much that he ended up buying a dinosaur head from Leonardo DiCaprio just for them. 

Russell Crowe bought a dinosaur head from Leonardo DiCaprio

Crowe initially became interested in the dinosaur while hanging out with his friend, DiCaprio. The two were enjoying some drinks at DiCaprio’s house when Crowe drunkenly decided to purchase the dinosaur skull. 

He recalled the incident during a visit to the Howard Stern Show. 

“I don’t remember, but I bought it for my kids,” Crowe said. “And cut myself a little bit of slack, there was a bunch of vodka involved in that transaction. And it happened at Leonardo’s house.” 

Leonardo DiCaprio sold the dinosaur head because he wanted a different one

Although DiCaprio was fond of his beloved dinosaur head, there was another one that he was more interested in. However, before he would be willing to buy the new head, he’d have to sell the old one first. 

“I think he started the conversation because he’s like, ‘I’ve got this one, but there’s another one coming onto the market I really want so I’m trying to sell that one,” Crowe added. “I said, ‘I’ll buy it.’” 

Russell Crowe bought the dinosaur head for a hefty sum

Even though one would imagine a dinosaur head costing several hundred thousand dollars easily, DiCaprio sold it for much less. Crowe ended up shelling out around $30,000 for the artifact. 

“He was pretty cool about it, he said, ‘Just give me what I paid for it,’ and I think he paid like 30 or 35 grand or something.”

Stern was surprised to find out how little it cost Crowe, relatively speaking. But Crowe explained it was because the head wasn’t from one of the more esteemed dinosaurs out there, such as the T-Rex. 

“It was not a very popular dinosaur,” Crowe said. 

Regardless of the cost, Crowe said his only intention with buying it was to please his children. 

“Part of the reason for buying it is when I did buy it, which is round about 2008 or 2009, my kids, particularly my eldest, were like, fascinated, they’re into dinosaurs. So, here’s one, here’s one for the playroom.”

Russell Crowe auctioned the dinosaur head to pay for his divorce

Although his children were quite fond of the dinosaur head, Crowe ended up having to auction it off to rustle up some money for his divorce. Even though he only paid $30,000 for it, it’s value has increased dramatically since selling it. 

“I think it’s almost doubled in value since I sold it,” Crowe said. 

He could’ve had a lot more money for the divorce if he’d done ‘Lord of the Rings’

Later in the conversation, Stern brought up the fact that Crowe had turned down a major role in Lord of the Rings that would have potentially netted him an insane amount of money. Because he would’ve been entitled to 10% of the film’s gross, he could’ve earned upwards of $100 million. 

Everyone laughed and joked about how if he’d have done the movie, he wouldn’t have needed to auction the dinosaur head, and his life would likely be a bit different.

“You could’ve kept your dinosaur head,” Stern said.

“Or bought the rest of the dinosaur!” Crowe fired back.