“You’ve got to be prepared to go to war”: why Ridley Scott’s muse needed to be a fellow firebrand
It’s become increasingly entertaining since he entered his ‘grumpy old man’ phase, but Ridley Scott has always been a filmmaker who refuses to take prisoners. This came in very handy during a career in which he was repeatedly found battling against studio executives.
He might have been pushing 40 by the time his debut feature, The Duellists, was even released in 1977, but he was far from a novice. Making his name in the advertising world, Scott had helmed thousands of commercials before he even called action on his first movie, encountering plenty of high-ranking suits and massive corporations along the way.
While he wasn’t always guaranteed to get his own way, Scott nonetheless made a habit of standing his ground whenever the shot-callers from above his pay grade were trying to exert their influence. Fortunately, such heavy-handedness has quietened down since he attained legendary status, but it also made it somewhat inevitable that his muse would operate under a very similar mindset.
He stood his ground to extract extra funds from 20th Century Fox to shoot the iconic conclusion to Alien, persevered through the ridiculous notes he was given by Warner Bros on Blade Runner, faced issues with Japanese authorities shooting Black Rain, shot down suggestions to give Thelma & Louise a different ending, and even when he’s been overruled Scott has made sure his original vision sees the light of day through the many director’s cuts of his films.
The filmmaker has been in the business long enough and has been around the block enough times to develop one of Hollywood’s thickest skins, albeit one that can still prove mighty thin on occasion. Thanks to his infamously short fuse, Scott is about as economical and professional as it gets on set, but whenever he gets asked a question he doesn’t like, he’s happy to tell the offending party to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that he’s never worked with any actor more than he has Russell Crowe. The two hit it off immediately, and their personal bond was strengthened immeasurably by their first partnership on Gladiator becoming a box office monster, winning the leading man an Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’, as well as four other trophies, including ‘Best Picture’.
Much like Scott, Crowe has displayed a tendency to lose his cool now and again. Like the director he too has mellowed with age, but for a while they were effectively soulmates. Neither of them were huge fans of the press, they both took their work incredibly seriously, they’re fond of a foul-mouthed tirade or two, and they carried no airs or graces about blowing their top when the occasion calls for it.
They reunited four more times on the biographical crime story American Gangster, the dramatic comedy A Good Year, the espionage thriller Body of Lies, and the blockbuster adventure Robin Hood. Crowe has often been described as a complicated fellow, and while Scott wholeheartedly agreed, that was the very reason why he ended up becoming his most prolific muse.
“That’s what makes him tick,” he opined to CBS. “Russell is complex. And make no mistake about that. Usually, the best ones are complex, intelligent, take no prisoners. You’ve got to be prepared to go to war with Russell.”
While having two fiery personalities in such close proximity seems as if it could be a recipe for disaster, the symbiotic bond between Scott and Crowe was ironically the opposites of opposites attracting. They were very similar in so many respects, but instead of their many shared traits causing the sparks to fly, it brought them closer than any other actor/director relationship of either man’s career.
Scott has never cast any star more often than he was Crowe – discounting the 14 cameos made by his wife Giannina Facio, of course – and Crowe has never worked with any director more often than he has Scott. Admittedly, they’ve been apart for almost a decade and a half now, but the sentiment remains the same.
Taking two firebrands and putting them in close proximity for an extended period of time can often bring dangerous results, but it transpired the dynamic duo were tailor-made for each other.
