Source: The Sun-Herald | The Last Word
January 5, 2003
Crewman Crowe gets a taste for the brine
By Danny Weidler
Don't be surprised if Souths fan and actor Russell Crowe bobs up on a boat in a future Sydney to Hobart.
Crowe went for a sail on Travelex in the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race during the week and skipper Ludde Ingvall said Crowe had a ball. "I think he'll be back on the water with us again," he said. "I have been corresponding with Russell for over a year about sailing and it was great to have him on board. A couple of years ago he was very close to sailing the Sydney-Hobart with us and he is welcome if he wants to sail with us in the future. He really was a very good part of the crew. I think that he spent more time on the grinder than anyone else on the boat and he sailed the boat across the line. He was very committed and tenacious."
Crowe plays the lead in the upcoming Peter Weir film Master And Commander:The Far Side Of The World and has been discussing the seafaring role with Ingvall.
Crowe held his annual Christmas bash but didn't invite any South's players or officials.
Source: Canoe | Jam!
January 5, 2012
Crowe flies to 'Republic of Doyle'
By Bill Harris
Allan Hawco has a "Rock-solid" way of describing Russell Crowe.
"There are movie stars out there, and there are actors," Hawco said. "Russell's an actor."
Hawco, of course, is the star and creator of Republic of Doyle, the Newfoundland-shot and Newfoundland-set series that returns for its third season Wednesday, January 11 on CBC.
But what's particularly interesting about the third-season premiere is that Crowe - the New Zealand-born and Australia-raised Academy Award-winning actor - is a guest-star in the episode.
So how the heck did that happen?
"I've known Russell for about 10 or 11 years, I met him through Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea, who also is guest-starring in the episode," explained Hawco, who plays lead character Jake Doyle. "Russell is one of those guys, he's a super generous actor, he's a super generous person.
"I feel like he's one of those guys who likes to use his position to help others achieve what they want to achieve, whether it's actors or singer-songwriters or whatever. If you're going after it, and he sees that, if you're lucky enough to be in his line of vision when you're going after something, he lends a hand.
"(Crowe) offered me a great favour - probably the biggest favour he may ever have given anyone - flying across the entire world to come play with us on our set. It was amazing."
It isn't as if Crowe simply makes a cameo in the episode. He has a big role in it.
"The stakes went up," said Sean McGinley, who plays Jake's dad Malachy. "Everybody upped their game. But there was a sense with (Crowe) that he was utterly committed to those eight days he was on Republic of Doyle, and he brought that on the set with him.
"I'm sure he was aware that people were (McGinley made the hand signal for eye contact), and that people might be a little too hyped around him. But he let it be known from Day 1 that he was there to work, and he's a worker."
Hawco believes his deliberate attempts to remain low-key during his personal interactions with Crowe may have helped pave the way for Crowe's appearance on Republic of Doyle.
"Any conversations I've ever had with (Crowe) over the years, it's hard to get stories out of him, because he's got so many, and you never want to be the guy bugging him to tell stories," Hawco said. "So all I do when I'm around him really is just try to act cool - not act cool, but stay cool - and not to get on his nerves.
"Over the years that was sort of my tactic, was to just treat him like a dude, because that's what he is. And he told me great stories about working with Al Pacino and working with (Paul) Giamatti, working with these guys who he considers to be the real deal."
And now, even though Hawco didn't doubt it before, it has been re-confirmed in his mind that Crowe is the real deal, too.
"Just sitting across from (Crowe) in a scene, he can't tell a lie," Hawco said. "I think that's one of his most amazing personal traits, too, it's why he's so out there in the world, it's that he's incapable of telling a lie.
"He can't lie to you in a scene, man. He can pretend, of course, but he ... is ... there," added Hawco, slowing down his words for emphasis. "It was pretty inspiring."
