Source: Herald Sun
January 9, 1993
Nothing like Hando
By H. Crompton
He says he knows how to excite an audience and give them their money's worth; he confesses to being a workaholic, and he doesn't like the press. Anthony Hopkins said of him it's like looking into a mirror and seeing himself as a young man.
New Zealand born Russell Crowe has long been noted as a supremely able young actor. In less than three years the 28-year-old has made nine films and gleaned three AFT nominations - two converted into awards. And he says he's just warming up. Talking to him is similar to having an exchange with a nuclear reactor.
His screen presence, which has attracted so much attention in Australia, is hardly less diminished off the film set. The frenetic energy and pent-up passion that emanates from Crowe is, despite its genuine nature, slightly off-putting.
Ironically, it's his impatience to work, instead of talking about his work, which has earned him a mixed reputation.
"I hate all this superstar shit," he says bluntly. "I'm not very good at it. My PR person said I have a bit of a reputation. I don't know why. "Someone asks me a question and I try to answer it. I'll talk to a journalist and all they do is talk about the jacket I had on or something. I mean, I'm an actor.
"That's why I've only done a few interviews. I've kept a low profile really. And say you do two or three films in a row over here - suddenly you're over-exposed," he explains wearily.
Crowe has broken his low profile rule by joining the promotional team for his latest film, Romper Stomper, which is written and directed by Geoffrey Wright.
It's proved to be his most potent role to date and earned him an AFI Best Actor award. He plays Hando, a skinhead and angry young man brewing in the putrid juices of jaundice and hatred.
The film smashed its way on to the cinema circuit and grabbed critics by the throat. It kicked Strictly Ballroom off the Australian box office No. 1 spot - though it couldn't have been further removed from that feel-good low-budget Australian blockbuster.
Romper Stomper is raw, riveting and revolting. An unapologetic slice of urban inhumanity and aggression. As top dog, the tattoo-covered Hando rules a desolate Melbourne gang with a distorted rod of iron and a blackened heart.
"Hando is someone who is repressed. Normally when things go wrong for people they internalise things,' Crowe said. "They say, 'What am I doing wrong? How can I change to make things go better?' and stuff like that. "With Hando it's the opposite. Something goes wrong and he blames other people. He externalises it. And he thinks there are some races of people who aren't fit to tread the same planet as him. He believes that."
Crowe also talks about a frenzied sex scene that takes place in the R-rated Romper Stomper between himself and co-star Jacqueline McKenzie, who plays the abused and confused Gabe.
"But there's something more sexual for Hando when he's confronting the Asian guys and stands there deciding whether to take them all on. There's more of a sexual presence in that than the bedroom scene with Gabe. For Hando, anyway, because that's who he is."
For Crowe, his latest and most successful role in terms of critical acclaim also gave him the most satisfaction. The hook was the extremity of emotion.
"It was a challenge. It's interesting to play someone who is so far removed from my own politics and emotions - from everything," he said. "That's what made it so satisfying."
2002
