“Gladiator” director Ridley Scott recently told The New York Times that Russell Crowe said Joaquin Phoenix was being “terribly unprofessional” on set when Phoenix was getting cold feet and had to be convinced to stay on the movie.
Crowe headlined “Gladiator” as Maximus, with Phoenix starring as the villainous Commodus.
“[Joaquin] was in his prince’s outfit saying, ‘I can’t do it,’” Scott recalled, “I said, ‘What?’ And Russell said, ‘This is terribly unprofessional.’”When asked how he convinced Phoenix to stay on the film, Scott asked: “I can act as a big brother or dad.
It appears Phoenix got cold feet on “Gladiator” as well, although Scott was able to get him to stay on.
Variety has reached out to Phoenix and Crowe’s representative for comment regarding Scott’s “Gladiator” set story.
Persons:
Gladiator, Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Crowe, ”, Commodus, Oscar, “, Joaquin, ‘, ’ ” Scott, Russell, Phoenix, Scott, Joaquin’s, ’, ” Pheonix, Napoleon, Todd Haynes, Haynes, ” Phoenix, James McAvoy, Scott’s
Organizations:
New York Times, Phoenix, The New York Times, Variety
Locations:
Venice, Phoenix