By LOUIS B. HOBSON -- Calgary Sun
Tuesday, March 14, 2000

HOLLYWOOD -- There's no such thing as double talk where Russell Crowe is concerned.

"I'm not going to win the Oscar," says Crowe, who is nominated in the best actor category for his powerfully subtle performance in The Insider, about a tobacco industry whistleblower.

He is competing with Kevin Spacey, Richard Farnsworth, Denzel Washington and Sean Penn.

"Just being nominated is a great privilege. I know people who have had stellar, long careers and have never had the benefit of been acknowledged by their peers in this way.

"No matter what crap I might do in the future, I'll always be an Oscar-nominated actor."

Crowe is currently filming the Taylor Hackford drama Proof of Life with Meg Ryan, in which he plays a hostage negotiator.

"This time around, I get to look and sound like myself. I'm using my Australian accent."

This will certainly not be the case when Crowe teams up later this year with Jodie Foster and Claire Danes for Flora Plum.

"I play a circus freak who's half man and half beast. You'll just be seeing the slits of my eyes."

In Gladiator, which opens on May 5, Crowe plays a Roman general who is sold into slavery and eventually becomes the top gladiator at the Roman Coliseum.