A kinder gentler Russell Crowe?

Aussie Actor Russell Crowe has been known just as much for his dislike of the media and his temper than any of his roles in recent years. We all remember that incident in 2005 when he threw a phone at a hotel employee.

Crowe has just finished filming his role as the title character in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and has returned home to Sydney for some downtime. When this article, written by columnist Annette Sharp was published earlier this week, she drew attention to his workout regime which consisted of regular smoke breaks during his 20 km bike ride, finishing up with a meal consisting of tacos and pop. Rather than rant or rave, threaten to sue, or start a twitter-war, Crowe challenged Sharp to tag along on one of said bike-rides.

Crowe proceeded to kick the married mother of 3's ass. And he behaved like a total gentleman. He didn't crow about beating her (sorry I couldn't resist). He was genuinely concerned when she had a spill on her bike. But, kick her ass he did.

I love this. I love that she went. I love that he acted more like a grown up than most of the people in his industry. I know that she did it for the international press she is now getting. But I don't care. This was awesome.

I am a fan of Mr Russell Crowe. He was in the amazing Romper Stomper - one of my favourite Australian movies. I think he is a talented actor who loves his family, loves his rugby team (and by "his" rugby team, I mean the one he owns - the South Sydney Rabbitto's) and doesn't like the press that much. At least this time he handled it like a man instead of behaving like his character Hando from Romper Stomper.

This is a rough movie. But it is fantastic. Russell is phenomenal in this role. It is what got him noticed in Hollyweird. This is the movie that started it all........


XO