Russell Crowe Once Shared Playing Extreme Characters in Films Sabotaged Long-Lasting Relationships

Actor Russell Crowe has played many memorable characters over the course of his career. And although doing so has done wonders for him, it also used to stand in the way of the actor forming any lasting relationships.

Russell Crowe chooses roles that scare him

Crowe has made a career out of portraying complex and three dimensional characters that have earned him much praise. Some of that praise has come in the form of Oscar nominations. Crowe was nominated twice for Best Actor for his roles in The Insider and Beautiful Mind. One of his most famous films, Gladiator, was what had him winning the top prize.

Taking these kinds of extreme roles is an intentional choice by Crowe. The Oscar-winner isn’t concerned with doing characters who are too familiar, and is constantly on the lookout for what challenges him.

“I certainly am finding myself more and more doing stuff that I’m afraid of,” Crowe once told Yahoo. “I mean, all the way through the 50 or whatever movies I’ve made, you’ll see that in a cycle of time that I’ve lent into something that scared me. Because of the fact that it scared me.”

This helps the actor avoid doing the same roles over and over again.

“I’ve never wanted to repeat what I’ve done before. I always look for something that’s a degree or 10 degrees or 180 degrees away from the previous thing that I’ve done,” he added.

Russell Crowe once shared playing extreme characters in films ruined his dating life

Crowe once confided that choosing to do these extreme roles did more harm than good when it came to his dating life. He brought up his breakthrough role in Romper Stomper as an example of how his movie characters could interfere with relationships.

Romper Stomper saw Crowe playing the leader of a gang of skinheads in 1992. And although the role earned him massive critical acclaim, it did his personal life more harm than good.

“I’ve played some extreme characters and that’s probably one of the reasons I haven’t been able to sustain a relationship over a long period of time,” Crowe once said in an interview with Cinema. “I’d been going out with a girl for a couple of years when I did Romper Stomper and that movie dramatically affected our relationship. She just couldn’t sleep in the same bed as a skinhead. I mean, I wasn’t wearing the boots all the time but during the course of the shoot I had the tattoos and obviously the shaved head and she just didn’t want to know about it.”

Russell Crowe once shared why he’s against method acting

Crowe may have a habit of pursuing dark or complex roles, but he doesn’t go to extreme lengths to inhabit them. Whereas other actors apply method acting to get into character, Crowe felt that doing so was unnecessary. According to The Guardian, he opened up about his unfavorable opinion towards going method.

“I’ve never been to drama school,” Crowe said. “I’ve been acting since I was six years old and over time you get more and more efficient at getting to the center of the character. I don’t even know what the Stanislavski method may be. I have no f***ing idea and I don’t care to know. Seriously, it’s not that complicated. If you want to be an actor, work it out for yourself.”