Actor Russell Crowe revealed in an interview that he broke both of his legs during a stunt during the filming of the 2010 film “Robin Hood” but waited a decade to seek medical help.
The portrayal of the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the film “Gladiator”, for which he received an Oscar in 2001, made the New Zealand-born actor famous worldwide. Crowe is currently promoting his new action thriller “Land Of Bad”, which also features… Liam Hemsworth, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle and Milo Ventimiglia play along.
Russell Crowe on serious accident on the set of “Robin Hood”
During a conversation with People Crowe also spoke about the accident for the first time as part of his press tour.
The “little mishap,” as Crowe called the incident, occurred during a stunt for Ridley Scotts “Robin Hood” in the summer of 2009 when he had to jump down from a portcullis.
“I jumped from the portcullis of a castle onto rock-hard, uneven ground,” said the 59-year-old.
“We should have prepared the ground and dug in a base, but we were in a hurry to get the shot in the fading light,” recalled the movie star, who was 45 when he played the title role in “Robin Hood.”
He only realized the extent of the danger when he was about to take the plunge.
“With hundreds of extras, flying arrows and fire pots setting the castle on fire, there was no turning back,” Crowe recalled. “When I jumped, I thought, ‘This is going to hurt.'”
In the final seconds of his jump, he thought he was going to land on the balls of his feet to absorb the impact. But the stunt was devastating. “It was like an electric shock went through my body,” he recalled of his reaction to the pain.
Despite his injury, he wanted to continue making the film. “We made a big film, so you just fight through it, but the last month of this work was very difficult,” said the actor. “There were some weeks where even walking was a challenge.”
Russell Crowe broke both of his legs – without realizing it
Crowe said he “never discussed the injury with the producers, never took a day off because of it, I just kept going to work.”
Only years later did he see a doctor. About a decade later, Crowe was compelled to seek medical help when he began to experience “very strange pains” in his lower legs. He initially didn’t think it was anything serious and that it was likely the result of lack of exercise and sun after “working through a long winter in New York City.” He was therefore completely stunned when the doctor asked him: “When did you break your legs?”
It turned out that the doctor had found remnants of the fractures in both tibia bones on x-rays.
The doctor told him that the X-rays showed that the injury occurred about ten years ago. When he heard the time frame, he immediately thought of the stunt where he jumped off the portcullis on the Robin Hood set, the actor said. “Apparently I finished this film with two broken legs,” he said. “Everything for art.”
“No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just keep working and over time they healed themselves,” claimed the actor, who took a year off after “Robin Hood.” He assumes that he subconsciously sensed that something was wrong.
In the summer of 2011, Crowe filmed Man Of Steel, in which he played Jor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who is Superman’s biological father. “Being Superman’s Kryptonian father meant six months of incredibly intense physical training.” Crowe continued: “Between the time off and the training, things sorted themselves out.”
“Robin Hood” grossed over $320 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of around $155-237 million, which was considered somewhat of a disappointment.