The huge comic book role Russell Crowe turned down
The acting career of Russell Crowe started out in Australia many years after he moved there as a child from New Zealand. After featuring in Romper Stomper in 1992, America came a-beckoning, and Crowe landed roles in the likes of L.A. Confidential and The Insider before going on to become of the biggest film stars of the 21st Century.
Famously, he gave his most memorable performance in Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic historical action film Gladiator as the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius and followed up the following year with a portrayal of the mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr in Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind.
Crowe might have had another iconic role to his name had things turned out differently, though. He once explained that he was offered a classic comic book role, one of the most memorable from the Marvel franchise, but decided to turn it down as he was afraid of being typecast.
The New Zealand actor had, in fact, been offered the role of playing Wolverine in X-Men by director Bryan Singer and he would have likely gone on to play the superhero in the subsequent movies. Crowe explained exactly what went down when he appeared on the Fitzy & Wippa radio show.
“Bryan, the director, was a friend at the time, and he was really putting the pressure on,” Crowe said. “It didn’t feel right at the time, plus I’ve never been a comic person.” The fact that Crowe wasn’t entirely interested in Wolverine’s story from the comic books played dividends in him turning down the role. But there was something else, too.
Because his famous character Maximus from Scott’s Gladiator also had links to wolves, Crowe didn’t want to become ‘Mr Wolf Man’. “If you remember, Maximus has a wolf at the centre of his cuirass, and he has a wolf as his companion,” the actor added, “Which I thought was going to be a bigger deal.”
Crowe concluded: “So I said no because I didn’t want to be ‘Wolfy the General’ then ‘Wolfy the Other Bloke’ and become like ‘Mr Wolf Man’.”
Of course, what Crowe turned down was Hugh Jackman’s benefit, and the Australian actor once admitted that he was forever in Crowe’s debt, not only for X-Men but for another of his famous roles too.
“I owe [Russell] because two of the biggest roles I’ve ever had in my life, he turned down — and suggested me for them,” Jackman told EW. “On X-Men, he was Bryan Singer’s first choice for Wolverine, and he mentioned me also for [Baz Luhrmann’s] Australia. He really is incredibly smart and generous.”
