Russell Crowe explains why he rejected Johnny Cash biopic: “I thought it was cheating”
During a new public appearance, Russell Crowe revealed the name of his next project and explained why he turned down a part in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line. Regarding the latter topic, he admitted: “I thought it was cheating”.
Crowe’s comments came during a press conference at the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. “The next project I shoot is Nuremberg,” the actor said without sharing more details, adding: “And I play Hermann Göring”.
Elsewhere, Crowe discussed the music documentary he has been making since 2011, The Last Breath. “What that documentary seeks to do is to just make people comfortable with the idea that as a creative he can enjoy and spend time on film and music as passions,” he said. “One person actually said to me, ‘How famous do you need to be, man?'”
Crowe added: “One person actually said to me, ‘How famous do you need to be, man?’”
“Music is really important to me. It’s a big creative thing that I don’t give up,” he continued.
Speaking about his band, Indoor Garden Party’s European tour that ended on Friday night, for which footage for The Last Breath was shot, the actor said: “We needed this last run to actually give it a point. So The Last Breath is really about my connection to music.”
The discussion of music led to a question about the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, which starred Joaquin Phoenix as the country star. Crowe was asked whether it was true that he rejected the part. The Australian confirmed that he did, maintaining, “I love Johnny Cash”.
He explained: “I thought it was cheating. I thought it was like, ‘OK, all of these things like Grammy nominations, all that sort of stuff will come with that movie.’ But music to me is so personal that I didn’t want it to come to me because I was pretending to be somebody else. That is what the acting is for. But the music is, selfishly, about my songs.”
Crowe continued: “My reasons seem very insignificant and insufficient because I would have had a great time on that movie.” He then described Phoenix’s work in the movie as “brilliant”.
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