Home > Culture Pop > Archives > 2009 > June > 04 > Entry
Q: Russell Crowe’s 3:10 to Yuma is in theaters, and I’ve already seen trailers for his new movie, American Gangster. Both seem like tough roles. Has being a dad really softened the actor?
A: It takes a lot to upstage Russell Crowe, but Charles Spencer Crowe stole his scene with the Academy Award winner in a New York minute. “Charlie,” as his doting dad calls him, is Russell’s very blond four-year-old son. The child accompanied him and co-star Denzel Washington to a round of press interviews for American Gangster. When his daddy asked, “Charlie, would you rather sit in the back of the room or on my lap?” Denzel chortled, “You call that a choice?” Duh. Charlie climbed into his father’s lap and listened to half of the answer to a serious question about how Russell got into his role of playing a cop. Then he announced, “I think I’ll tell some jokes now.” The ever-intense actor is famous for getting testy when reporters interrupt him, but he sweetly said to Charlie, “OK, tell us one.” The four-year-old stood up and, with the confidence of a stand-up comic, asked, “Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?” Denzel volunteered, “Because he couldn’t get to the other side?” Charlie took a beat before delivering the punchline in an Aussie accent too thick to penetrate. Russell translated, “Charlie said, ‘You’re wrong. It’s because he ran out of juice.’ Of course, I had to find out how Russell would feel if Charlie followed in his footsteps. “I’m not going to stand in the way of it,” he says. “But I’m not going to create the opportunity because I just don’t think that’s ever healthy. My preference would be that my sons find something far more important to do with their lives.”
Then he added, “But who I am to talk. I did my first TV show when I was six.”
Permalink | |
Post a comment
*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.