Russell Crowe: No tights for Robin Hood
Academy Award winner Russell Crowe is the latest actor to portray Nottingham's outlaw hero, in Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," which opened in Chicago on Friday. For this first "Dean's List" column, I was the guest of Universal Pictures in Beverly Hills to talk with Crowe who — working with director Scott — won the Oscar for best actor in 2000's "Gladiator." Crowe has also earned critical praise for his performances in "A Beautiful Mind," "The Insider" and "State of Play."
Dean Richards: Why has the
Robin Hood legend endured through literature and for so many movie and television incarnations?
Russell Crowe: Depending on with which historian you go, there are some people who believe the core of Robin Hood starts in 870 A.D. If that's true, then this story is the oldest tale in the English language in which the central character is an Englishman. I think that there is a very compelling center to him. I like that there is somebody out there who cares enough to redress the balance of power and steal from the rich to give to the poor, even though in our version, we don't use that in a literal sense. We sort of leap off into the metaphorical, where we're looking at the rights and privileges of the ruling class.
Q
Which of the old movie versions of Robin Hood have been your favorites?
A
I've seen them all and I've seen them all through my life as opposed to sitting down and watching them all in one go. I've seen Errol Flynn and … I was a big fan of Richard Todd's version ("The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men") in 1952.
Q
What about Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood: Men in Tights?"
A
Absolutely! That was one of the things that Ridley and me sat down and talked about. We said it was one of the best Robin Hoods ever made because he just liberally smashes all these people that have been hanging on to the same half a dozen cliches through the years.
Q
Were you relieved when you learned that there would be no tights involved in this version of Robin Hood?
A
I apologize to everybody who wants tights. That never made sense to me, right! You're a bloke, you live in the forest, and you wear tights? You climb up and down trees … you presumably get into some brambles and stuff. Are you sure that tights are the best thing to wear? Plus, they weren't even invented for another three or four hundred years so, we just went with the practical.
Q
What was it like for you (recently) when you got the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Is that kind of a profound thing for an actor?
A
That would be overstating it, but what was nice about it, was that I got to share it with my family. My boys are old enough to realize that it was a special occasion. And they were incredibly well-behaved. I was expecting at any moment, there was going to be an explosion with them. The other thing that it gives you is that opportunity to thank all the people that you've worked with; to stand in front of people like Jeffrey Katzenberg and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and just let them know that from my heart that a film set is the place where I am most at home. And thank you very much for allowing me to do the job. Yeah, so, it's a privilege and it was really pleasant, but I'm not sure that I would call it profound.