“Pure imagination on behalf of this director”
Russell Crowe has flatly denied a tale making the rounds about a trainwreck of an audition from years ago.
The disputed story was told by director P.J. Hogan who claimed in a book, “From Hollywood With Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy” by Scott Meslow, that Mr. Crowe had a truly bizarre meeting with Julia Roberts.
An excerpt featuring Hogan’s story was published in February in Vulture. The piece focused on Hogan’s casting process for 1997 rom-com “My Best Friend’s Wedding” — particularly Roberts’ love interest (which ultimately went to Dermot Mulroney).
HBO
The Ridiculous Reason John Oliver Bought Russell Crowe’s Leather Jockstrap for $7,000
View Story
In the book, Hogan says: “My first choice was actually Russell Crowe.”
“Russell was, I thought, probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered,” he continued. “I kind of knew Russell was going to be a really big star.”
However, “Julia had casting approval. No one was getting in this movie if Julia didn’t approve,” the director said.
So they went ahead with a table read, per Hogan: “I don’t know what went wrong.”
Getty
Julia Roberts and George Clooney on Why They Never Dated in Real Life
View Story
“It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced. Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once. He read every line in a monotone,” Hogan said. “At one point, Julia was literally leaning over the table, staring, like, inches from Russell’s face, trying to make eye contact. And he wouldn’t look at her. At the end of the reading, Russell came up to me and said, ‘I thought that went pretty well.’ And then I knew: Russell was not going to be in My Best Friend’s Wedding.“
On Friday, Crowe took to Twitter writing: “Pure imagination on behalf of this director. I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned.”
The “Gladiator” star not only denied it ever happening, but also added: “Would be funny if it wasn’t so pointless.”
