A native of Wellington, New Zealand, he was born on April 7, 1964, and spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Australia, where he got his first acting roles from the late 1980s. He drew attention to himself by working on television or playing the lead role of a neo-Nazi in the gritty crime drama Romper Stomper (1992). Subsequently, he worked his way to Hollywood, where he impressed in the ensembles Faster than Death (1995) or LA – Top Secret (1997), but the truly breakthrough role was the creation alongside Al Pacino in the thriller Insider: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1999), which earned him his first Oscar nomination.
The greatest glory
Crowe appeared among the contenders for the most valuable statue three times in a row. After Insider, he changed the nomination thanks to Gladiator (2000) and his performance in Pure Soul (2001) for the third time and so far the last time he impressed the academics. In those years, he could choose between tempting roles, which he undoubtedly succeeded in. Whether as a muscular Roman warrior or a mathematician haunted by inner demons, the temperamental maverick became America’s darling. At that time, he also turned down several tempting roles – he missed out on the role of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings (2001) due to the filming of Pure Soul, and even before that he turned down the role of Wolverine in the first X-Men (2000) because of his certain resemblance to Maximus from Gladiator. Pure Soul | Universal Pictures Although he didn’t get any more Oscar accolades, he continued to lead significant Hollywood projects. He excelled in the naval drama Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), the light-hearted dramedy Good Year (2006), the crime thriller American Gangster (2007), the modern western 3:10 Train to Yuma (2007), the thriller Labyrinth of Lies (2008) or the moral drama Three days to freedom (2010). He probably went through the biggest physical transformation thanks to his preparation for the role of a boxer in the drama Heavyweight (2005).
Freer career autumn
All this success occurred despite problematic behavior in his personal life, which culminated in the much-publicized throwing of a phone at a hotel doorman in 2005. Crowe’s aggressive tendencies were also thematized by the creators of South Park, as the satirical series included a fictional show in which the actor peres with different people all over the world.Master & Commander | 20th Century Fox In the last more than a decade, he relaxed somewhat in the careful selection of roles. Some anticipated hits rather failed (Robin Hood, Noah) and acting in supporting roles in the comic books Man of Steel (2013) or Thor: Love Like Thunder (2022) rather showed that Crowe’s best acting years are already behind him. His probably most successful title of the last decade is the recorded crime comedy Proper Guys (2016), in the last few years we have seen him mainly in recognized B-movies such as The Exorcist (2020) or The Pope’s Exorcist (2023).
Renaissance artist
Crowe is also a lifelong active musician – even before he broke through as an actor in the 1980s as a musician. After all, he also performed in this role last year at the Karlovy Vary festival, where he opened the entire film festival with his band Indoor Garden Party. In addition, he is also a co-owner of one Australian rugby team and through his famous name he is trying to attract sponsors to the sports organization.
Pope’s Exorcist | Screen Gems
Add to that the care of two sons on the verge of adulthood and a number of charitable activities, and it is understandable that Crowe does not want to stick tooth and nail among the acting elite. The situation has not been made easier for him by the development of the film industry in recent years, when more promising franchises and superhero films are preferred over medium-budget films for adult audiences (where Crowe rolled most often). Let’s hope, however, that even in the seventh decade of his life, this extremely charismatic actor will present himself in several prominent roles after all.
You can watch the movie 3:10 Train to Yuma for free on Kinobox, you can find Gladiator on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, you can watch Pure Soul on SkyShowtime or Prima+. In the actor’s profile you will also find links to play his other hits. You can also look at our ranking of the best dramas.
Sources: Slate, CNN, Wikipedia
