NEWSRussell Crowe Thought Joaquin Phoenix Was 'Terribly Unprofessional' on 'Gladiator' Set, Director Ridley Scott Reveals
'Gladiator' director Ridley Scott claimed that Joaquin Phoenix's nerves on set irritated costar Russell Crowe.
Gladiator director Ridley Scott is spilling behind-the-scenes tea on the 2000 action flick ahead of the Friday, November 22, release of the highly anticipated sequel, Gladiator II.
While speaking with The New York Times, the British filmmaker revealed there was some tension between costars Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, both of whom did not return for the second movie.
Ridley Scott revealed that Joaquin Phoenix's nerves on the set of 'Gladiator' irritated Russell Crowe.
"[Joaquin] was in his prince’s outfit saying, ‘I can’t do it,'" the Emmy winner, 86, recalled. "I said, ‘What?’ And Russell said, ‘This is terribly unprofessional.'"
Scott was able to talk Phoenix, 50, out of his anxiety, sharing, "I can act as a big brother or dad. But I’m quite a friend of Joaquin’s."
"Gladiator was a baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning," he added.
Crowe reportedly felt that the 'Her' star was 'terribly unprofessional' while filming the 2000 movie.
It's unclear if Crowe, 60, was aware that the Joker lead was struggling with his mental health at the time. However, Phoenix did discuss the ordeal in a previous interview, admitting he deals with "nervousness on every movie" set.
"I think that probably Gladiator was one of the most intimidating because the first set that I went on was just massive," he confessed.
"It looked like it was acres of land, and tons of trucks and trailers and, you know, hundreds of extras, and multiple cameras," he continued. "Suddenly the scale of this hit me and I was overwhelmed by that. I didn’t think that I was going to be able to make it through that."
Crowe's anger toward Phoenix may not come as a surprise to some, as other people who work in Hollywood have accused the A Beautiful Mind star of being difficult to work with.
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Scott noted he's good friends with Phoenix.
According to a report, the New Zealand native allegedly threatened to kill a producer while filming Gladiator.
When talking about Crowe in an interview, L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson shared, "Russell has a reputation of being difficult, and what I speculate is that he’s difficult when he’s not trusting."
Crowe has feuded with other people throughout his years in his Hollywood, including George Clooney.
In 2013, George Clooney aired out his beef with Crowe during an interview with Esquire.
"He picked a fight with me. He started it for no reason at all. He put out this thing saying, 'George Clooney, Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro are sellouts,'" the Ocean's Eleven star shared. "And I put out a statement saying, 'He's probably right. And I'm glad he told us, 'cause Bob and Harrison and I were also thinking about starting a band, which would also fall under the heading of bad use of celebrity.'"
"And that's when he really went off on me. 'Who the [expletive] does this guy think he is? He's a Frank Sinatra wannabe,'" Clooney said. "He really went after me."
