Great Scott!
Russell Crowe reteams with his favorite director in American Gangster
by B. Love

Say what you will about Russell Crowe’s reputation for being difficult on a personal level, but there’s no questioning the tough-talking actor’s track record. Between 1997 and 2003, the New Zealand native starred in five films that were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (with Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind ultimately winning), while Crowe garnered three Best Actor nominations and one win. With this summer’s 3:10 to Yuma and this month’s American Gangster, the 43-year-old thespian has continued his hot streak, delivering two more back-to-back classics.

Pairing him with director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, A Good Year) for the third time, American Gangster casts Crowe as Detective Richie Roberts, an outcast cop who works to bring down the drug empire of New York heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington). Set in the ‘70s, the gritty drama touches on sociopolitical topics ranging from racism to war (Lucas smuggles drugs into the country in the coffins of soldiers returning from Vietnam), leading to a climactic cinematic showdown that recalls the pairing of Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in Heat.

In a recent interview in Beverly Hills, Crowe talked to reporters on subjects ranging from being snubbed by the Academy and becoming a family man to how he and fellow “grumpy man” Scott manage to work so well together.

You seem to be very selective in the films that you choose to do. What do you look for?
It’s the same as it’s always been in terms of the story and character, which are my primary focus when I read a script. I don’t think that I’ve become more selective over time, but I think I came into it being selective. I just did things that appealed to me, and they’re not always going to be things that the head of a studio thinks will appeal as well.

Has it become easier or more difficult to find quality roles?
Good characters have always been a challenge to find. You get a lot of opportunities that come with a big paycheck and all that sort of stuff, but don’t necessarily appeal to you. There are also a lot of people who are absolutely dead set certain that this is something that you’d love to do, then you start reading it and it’s not something that turns you on. I think you’ve got to stay true to yourself. I read a script, and if I get goosebumps and like what the potential of it is, then that’s the thing that I do.

American Gangster marks your third time working with Ridley Scott. How have you changed most since you first worked together on Gladiator?
I had a very intense decade where everything about my life came down to what happened between "action" and "cut." I absolutely understand my need to establish that there were no limits on what I could do as an actor, and that's fine and dandy. That's been established. Now I can just focus on the part I really enjoy, which is being on a film set, working with other actors, inspiring and terrifying a crew… and I say terrifying because Ridley will occasionally do 75 setups before lunch.

What is it about your connection with Ridley Scott as a director that makes you want to work with him over and over again?
We share common ground, a sense of humor and work ethic. It's just really easy on a Ridley Scott set. I have complete trust in the fact that, whatever I do and whatever I come up with in the moment, he'll capture it. He knows from past experience that if he directs me to jump off a cliff, I'll jump off a cliff. If you're a director, you want that kind of response to your requests. We went through all of the skankiest neighborhoods in the five (New York) boroughs for American Gangster, and we still had fun every single day. He gave a quote to a magazine a while ago, which I thought was quite funny. He said, "We're both marginally grumpy men. However, when we're together, our mood lightens significantly."

Does having that sort of connection with a director make your job easier as an actor?
Of course! He knows the best thing to do is just see [what I’m doing as an actor], and he'll get it when he sees it. But I know what he's looking for. He downloads to me what his desires are, what he sees and believes in, what he sees the movie as, and I listen and retain it and become a version of his conscience. We'll be in the middle of something and I'll say, "Didn't you say you wanted this to be like that and to have the bloke say this to go with that?" and he'll say, "Exactly! And how would you interpret that?"

You’re one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, yet even critically acclaimed films like Cinderella Man failed to earn much notice from the Academy. Do you think your personal reputation has contributed to that?
I don’t care. It’s not even on the Top 100 of my priority list. When I see some of the decisions that are made, you ask yourself how you can take it seriously. I believe Cinderella Man, for example, had three nominations for a film that I believed deserved a lot more. With Paul Giamatti not winning Best Supporting Actor for that performance, you have to stand back and say, "It's not healthy to take any of this seriously." The thing about Cinderella Man is, I'll be walking down the street and people stop me and put their hand on their heart and start to cry. I'll still be having those conversations ten years from now. It will be interesting to see how many conversations people are having about other films down the road.

Has your life gotten better now that you're married and have kids?
My life has changed a lot since I got married, and have two little boys. I'm very blessed. On a daily basis, I get to experience a whole type of joy that I've never had before. It was the right time for me to become a dad. I'm a working-class boy born in New Zealand, and I won an Oscar. That took a lot of personal fortitude to go from one place to another on that journey. Nothing was ever guaranteed. It's all about the right place, the right time.