Russell Crowe Storms Out of Interview After Robin Hood Accent Insulted

Entertainment May 14, 2010 AT 9:45AM
Russell Crowe Storms Out of Interview After Robin Hood Accent Insulted Credit: FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images

Russell Crowe stormed out of an interview with the BBC after he was accused of making Robin Hood sound Irish in his latest film.

Snapped the actor, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, "You've got dead ears, mate -- seriously dead ears if you think there's an Irish accent."

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When asked by art critic Mark Lawson if he meant to have a Northern Irish accent, the actor, 46, sniped, "No I was going for an Italian ... missed it? F--k me."

The last straw was when Lawson asked Crowe if he wanted to say his famous Gladiator line, "I'll take my revenge in this life or the next" in Hood, which hits theaters Friday.

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On his way out, Crowe muttered, "I don't get the Irish thing by the way. I don't get it at all."

Crowe has said in prior interviews that he was trying to switch up the outlaw's accent, making his character sound as if he was from the Yorkshire region of Britain, where scholars speculate he may have once lived, instead of Nottingham, where he was always based according to legend.

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This isn't the first time Crowe's temper has gotten the best of him.

He was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after throwing a phone at an employee of New York's Mercer Hotel when he couldn't get a dial signal to call his wife in Australia. He made a mea culpa on the Late Show With David Letterman, calling his actions "spectacularly stupid."

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  • May 20, 2010 - 1:09pm Engel

    Russell Crowe's temper is what set back his career in the first place. He was slated to be a super major movie star after Gladiator came out. Then a series of events, including the phone throwing incident, tarnished his rep and no one wanted to touch him. You'd think he would know better by now. P.S. If I were the employee whom Crowe threw that phone at, I would have grabbed that phone, and beat Crowe's a$$ with it. Just saying. lol

  • May 18, 2010 - 12:20am Tigeress

    Why should that even be an issue, if the movie is good who cares what accent he uses. It sounds as if the interviewer was trying to get crow to loose his temper on purpose.

  • May 16, 2010 - 6:04am Critter Crazy

    Type your comment hereThe interviewer seemed uninterested in asking about the movie and more infatuated with drilling Russell Crowe about accents. R. Crowe was discussing Robin Hood's character and interjecting some interesting bits about the lay-of-the-land politically and geographically...yet the interviewer could not rise above the trivial questions concerning accents. Then, when inquiring about another movie, unrelated to the movie, Robin Hood, Russell Crowe, rightly, ended the conversation. The interviewer was goading, much like a childhood bully would taunt his peers in the schoolyard. A little research would reveal that more actors than not were of a nationality and tongue not that of Mother England. Now, regarding the movie--It was great!

  • May 14, 2010 - 9:59pm Its a non-story

    He didn't storm out. He left an interview after the interviewer wouldn't stop annoying him. Good for Russell. Shame on the media for trying to elevate a non-event into something it wasn't. "oh-ah" Lazy ass reporting and lazy ass standards.

  • May 14, 2010 - 8:07pm Tom

    Jack Ass BBC Andrew Young is nothing but the flavor of the month and a moron. The only reason Crow didn't knocked his block off was because he doesn't have one.

  • May 14, 2010 - 7:00pm moviefan

    Unlike most people repeating this 'big' story, I listened to the interview. Crowe may have gotten a little testy but Telegraph.uk columnist Andrew Young has even admitted some of Lawsonâ??s questions were needling. Listen, Iâ??ve been watching Crowe do press for a solid month, since his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremoney in April. Heâ??s flown from Oz to the US to Europe back to US back to Europe. Iâ??ve seen and heard hundreds of these little video/audio interviews and this is the first one Iâ??ve seen where he hasnâ??t absolutely been charming, witty, and in very good humor. The whole accent thing did seem to put him off with Lawson but he still answered all until the Gladiator question with thoughtful answers. Iâ??d suggest going to view or read about some of the hundreds of interviews Crowe has done in the past month before you continue the same old tired stories about him.

  • May 14, 2010 - 6:08pm ?L?

    Who cares I love Russell Crowe! I think he should have spit in the interviewers face! i would still love him! LOL :)

  • May 14, 2010 - 4:51pm fishmonger

    the reporter is clearly talking out of his ass. There was no irish in there at all! ...sounded much more scottish than anything...

  • May 14, 2010 - 4:46pm Wesley

    I think Russell should have replied that he thinks the interviewer has a nice Brooklyn accent.

  • May 14, 2010 - 4:26pm min

    When is he going to grow up? Seriously, get out of the business if you get upset over any sort of criticism! He acts like a spoiled child that didn't get his way.

  • May 14, 2010 - 4:09pm Valerie

    The movie is about Robin Hood? Looks like Gladiator with a bow, honestly.

  • May 14, 2010 - 4:01pm NY

    This guy is a D-bag. I can't wait for his career to tank. I despise him.

  • May 14, 2010 - 3:30pm Candy

    He's a nice guy! I played an extra in his latest movie, The Next Three Days, and he spent a lot of time meeting with people and signing autographs. I feel bad when people badmouth him! :)

  • May 14, 2010 - 3:07pm anon

    I think that the questions were funny. It would have been kind of insulting though.

  • May 14, 2010 - 3:00pm Yoyo

    LOL, those are some questions! The interviewer was trying to p!ss him off. Guess it worked

  • May 14, 2010 - 2:57pm Kristina

    Russell is RIGHT ON!!! The interviewer was clearly trying to get a negative reaction by insulting his acting but Russell acted like a civil person and just walked away. I am sure Russell could kick his teeth in with no problem but he acted properly and like a MAN! Give him a BREAK already. He is OBVIOUSLY a talented actor and is so handsome it hurts my eyes to look directly at him. I LOVE RUSSELL CROWE and would gladly watch him kick some wise a$$ on screen and off.

  • May 14, 2010 - 2:57pm I'm not Recep's girlfriend

    Hahahahahaha. He calls himself actor? Whatever happen to having thick skin?? So Russell can't take the heat? His problem with attitude only makes him come out as loser.

  • May 14, 2010 - 2:32pm Lily

    Some of the questions the interviewers ask are just stupid. I remember they were asking an actor what they thought about someone else's meltdown and he was like "why would you ask ME that" Why all the attention on the accent, there is an entire movie to talk about and asking questions about. They could ask about the filming, the other actors/actresses, working with the director or how he felt about the character he was playing. I could get why some actors get disgusted with some of these interviewers. On that note, Russell Crowe could be the mature one here BUT he acted the way he did and now that is what people will focus on.

  • May 14, 2010 - 2:25pm TheTruth

    For those of you criticizing Russell, you'd do far better checking out the audio of the interview. You can find it by going to the Daily Mail. Russell is in a great mood, even laughing in it. Also, contrary to the TITLE of this story, he did not STORM out, but simply got up and left, chuckling. The interviewer appears to want to get Russell upset on purpose.

  • May 14, 2010 - 2:17pm Saw this coming a mile away.

    while he may have a temper, i don't blame him for walking out. You don't insult the person you are interviewing. FULL STOP. these days journalist seems to think anything goes, and then cry in outrage, when the subject walks out.I dont even know where the Irish came from? Why would purposely try to make someone mad? doesn't make any sense, and not only that, you look bad too. I have seen Crowe do many interviews, and rarely has he come off badly. I go back to a saying treat people the way you would want to be treated. If more people did that, I think the world would be a happier place.

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