The drinking contest with Russell Crowe that Burt Reynolds cheated to win: “He gets a little mean”
Burt Reynolds is a movie star who always felt like a man slightly out of time, but he once met his match in Russell Crowe.
Although Reynolds began to emerge in popularity in the 1960s, he felt like the type of Golden Age of Hollywood actor who would have flourished under the studio system of the ‘40s. He had a singular aura of charisma and desire to make commercial films that occasionally put him at odds with the more inventive style of the New Hollywood movement in the ‘70s, even if he gave a number of great performances that decade.
Unfortunately, not even the success of Smokey and the Bandit was enough to ensure that Reynolds’ career would be salvaged forever, as he began to hit rock bottom in the ‘90s, a decade which saw the emergence of another major movie star known for his idiosyncrasies.
Russell Crowe took over Hollywood, starting with his magnetic performance in LA Confidential, and although it was an ensemble film that featured Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, and Kim Basinger in a performance that won her an Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’, Crowe was by far the standout and was given the most opportunities in the aftermath.
He would begin one of the most impressive movie star runs of all time when he earned his first Oscar nomination for The Insider, appeared in back-to-back ‘Best Picture’ winners Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind (the former of which he won ‘Best Actor’ for), delivered an instant cult classic in Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, and was involved on a much publicised scandal on the set of the political thriller Proof of Life.
It was such an impressive four years that it’s easy to forget that they were preceded by his role in Mystery, Alaska, a small sports comedy in which he co-starred with Reynolds. Both Reynolds and Crowe had a habit of getting into drinking contests on set, and they were both highly competitive, but Reynolds said that he was willing to cheat in order to get a win over the man he referred to as “the Gladiator”.
“He gets a little mean,” Reynolds recalled, “One night I said to the girl behind the bar, ‘Here’s 100 bucks. Give me a vodka and tonic with a lime, but after that, alternate with water and lime’. On the tenth round, Russell grabbed the glass and took a swallow. Thank God it was the vodka. He said, ‘You’re all right, mate’.”
Mystery, Alaska wasn’t necessarily a hit, but it did involve a number of very talented people just before their careers would blow up. The film was directed by Jay Roach, best known for his role helming the Austin Powers trilogy, with the second film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, releasing the same year, and although he directed other comedies in the 21st century, he has also made a number of political dramas for HBO.
Amusingly enough, Crowe seems to be at a stage in his career similar to where Reynolds was when he made Mystery, Alaska. Considering that he has already peaked in popularity and earned the industry’s highest praises, Crowe seems to be content making all sorts of ridiculous B-movies in which he can make interesting choices and travel all over the world.
