Cindy Pearlman
April 21, 2000

Some guys are tough customers, and some are really tough customers. Then there's Russell Crowe.

Ridley Scott, who directed the Australian actor in the costume epic ``Gladiator,'' opening May 5, recalls that they had some problems with an unruly Bengal tiger who was surly and uncooperative, even biting a stunt man's arm at one point.

``It was like he could sense our fear,'' Scott says, ``and the animal had a certain take-no-prisoners mentality. Let's just say he would not suffer fools.''

But when Crowe walked by, things were different.

``The stupid thing would lay down on a rock with its paws tucked under it like it was a house cat,'' Scott says, laughing. ``It would hunker down. It didn't even let out a peep - we could barely get the damn thing to work. And the stupid cat was supposed to be attacking Russell.''

Even when Crowe is at ease in the posh Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Calif., it's easy to see why the tiger was intimidated. The actor has a take-no-prisoners attitude of his own, and he means business.

When a writer asks him not to smoke, he scoffs, ``Oh, I forgot that you're weak of constitution.''

Nor does he shrink from offending Hollywood VIPs such as Lawrence Kasdan, director of ``The Big Chill'' (1983), ``The Accidental Tourist'' (1988) and other hits.

``I had a chat with Lawrence Kasdan last night,'' Crowe says. ``It was so funny, because he's talking to me like he never met me before. We met on this project years ago. He can't f--king remember it!

``I knew I didn't want to work with him.''

Coming off an Oscar nomination for ``The Insider'' (1999), Crowe - who's 35, stands 6 feet tall and is casually clad in khaki pants and a matching sweater - can afford to ruffle a few feathers. Even when it comes to ``Gladiator,'' a $107 million-plus adventure film set in ancient Rome and replete with battle scenes, assassinations and a climactic showdown in the gladiators' arena between Maximus (Crowe) and his archenemy Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

``Frankly, when I got the script, it wasn't very good,'' he says matter-of-factly. ``It was too modern and too cynical. I nearly passed.''

Ultimately, he says, it was the chance to work with Scott, director of the legendary ``Alien'' (1979) and ``Blade Runner'' (1982), that sold him on the project.

``Face it,'' he says. ``If you're ever going to take a leap of faith, it should be with Ridley Scott, who is a straight-talking bloke. So am I.''

Scott and his crew took months to build a replica of the real Roman Colosseum, which was re-created in 90-percent scale on Malta. There Crowe survived some truly staggering battle scenes.

``You're dealing with going from one 10-day fight sequence to immediately rehearsing for the next 10-day fight sequence,'' the Australian says. ``In-between, I'm wrestling with a tiger.''

Both Crowe and Scott have notorious tempers, and some had predicted that the production's most memorable wrestling might be between them.

``It was the exact opposite experience,'' Crowe says. ``I love somebody who is searching for the absolute right nuance - I love that intensity level.

``Working with Ridley was like doing quantum physics with Picasso,'' he adds. ``He's got five camera crews, 2,000 extras, 500 horses and 10,000 flaming arrows flying through the air. It was impressive, mate.''

It was a lot more impressive than the film sets in New Zealand and Australia on which Crowe grew up, the son of parents who ran a movie-catering business. He was occasionally drafted for on-camera work, which he found to be a valuable training ground.

``I didn't get a lead role until I was 25,'' he says, ``yet I worked in front of a camera for the first time at age 6. So it was a 19-year apprenticeship.''

By age 20 Crowe was hoping to become a rock star, but there were glimmerings of his future career: One of his songs was titled, ``I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando.''

``Funny,'' Crowe jokes, ``but while shooting `The Insider,' I was fat and bald and really looking like Marlon.''

Like his idol, Crowe has played a wide variety of roles, from a dumpy, middle-aged whistle-blower in ``The Insider'' to a skinhead in ``Romper Stomper'' (1992), from a clean-cut man of the law in ``L.A. Confidential'' (1997) to a hippie hockey player in ``Mystery, Alaska'' (1999).

Crowe says he was less disappointed at not winning the Oscar than he was stunned and humbled to be nominated.

``An Oscar nomination to me is a very important thing,'' he says. ``It's a great privilege. I know lots of people who have had stellar and very long careers who have never had the benefit of being acknowledged by their peers.

``I really appreciate it,'' he says. ``I'm very thankful. I'm an Academy Award-nominated actor for the rest of my career, no matter what s--t I do from here on.''

These days Crowe is filming Taylor Hackford's romantic thriller ``Proof of Life,'' in which he co-stars with Meg Ryan as a hostage negotiator who falls in love with the wife of a kidnapped businessman (David Morse).

Hackford is known for his knack for sexy films such as ``An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), ``Against All Odds'' (1984) and ``White Nights'' (1985), but Crowe doesn't like thinking of himself as a sex symbol.

``This is not about me,'' he grumbles. ``I'm working with Taylor because I really loved `An Officer and a Gentleman.' You've got to pay out the guys who have given you the thrills.

``Plus he's an out-there cat.''

Next up is a role as a freak-show beast in Jodie Foster's ``Flora Plum.'' After that, he has no firm plans.

``That might be the last movie I ever do,'' he says with a shrug. ``If I ended this career tomorrow, I'd be happy with the fact that I've worked with a whole bunch of blokes who really know how to make movies. I know guys who don't just shoot a film - they tear the thing apart.''

Crowe's lack of Hollywood attitude may reflect the time he spends between films getting away from it all - far, far away from it all, actually, since he heads for his sprawling, 560-acre ranch in the Australian bush some seven hours north of Sydney.

``I get up in the morning and check out the cows. Of course, that's a half day's work,'' Crowe says.

``It's imperative,'' he continues. ``I need a bit of space. And it's the things I do outside acting that actually fuel my art - if I spent my whole life living in Hollywood, I think I would be a lesser man. I wouldn't know about life.''

Besides, he adds, certain farm products come in handy in Hollywood.

``I think many people in show business are slightly out of touch with reality,'' Crowe says. ``For me, it's all about my bulls--t detector. I want to go back to my farm and visit that kind of bull s--t.'' c.2000 Cindy Pearlman