Russell Crowe finished ‘Robin Hood’ “with two broken legs”
Russell Crowe has revealed it took him a decade to realise that he had broken his legs on the set of Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood after jumping from a “castle portcullis.”
The 2010 movie saw the Australian actor play the titular character, with other stars like Mark Strong, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow and Oscar Isaac appearing alongside Crowe in supporting roles.
Talking to People, Crowe explained that ten years after the movie’s release, he began experiencing “very strange pains” in his legs. A doctor asked him, “When did you break your legs?”
The actor continued, “Apparently, he could see the remnants of fractures in both shin bones. To jog my memory, he said, ‘Would have been maybe 10 years ago?'”
This comment made him realise that when he had “jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground” while filming Robin Hood, the injury must’ve been more severe than he thought.
He added, “We should have prepped the ground and buried a pad but we were in a rush to get the shot done in the fading light. As I jumped, I remember thinking, ‘This is going to hurt.'”
Somehow, Crowe managed to keep going despite the pain, unaware that he had actually broken both legs. “It was like an electric shock bursting up through my body. We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggle through, but the last month of that job was very tricky. There was a number of weeks where even walking was a challenge.”
Miraculously, Crowe “never discussed the injury with production, never took a day off because of it, I just kept going to work.” He remarked, “Apparently, I finished that movie with two broken legs.”
Robin Hood received a mixed reception upon release, largely due to the historical accuracy of Scott’s production.
Revisit the trailer for Robin Hood below.
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