Oscar-winner Russell Crowe lashed out at tabloid reports that he wanted to play Steve Irwin in an upcoming biopic of the Crocodile Hunter.
It's not even remotely true, according to Crowe, who took a break from shooting Ridley Scott's crime-drama American Gangster to talk to ComingSoon.net about his upcoming collaboration with Scott, A Good Year, based on the novel by Peter Mayle. Not only that but even the thought that he'd even be thinking of a movie about his late friend, who he just held a memorial tribute for in their native Australia, really bothers the actor.
"There's no truth to that whatsoever," Crowe said adamantly. "That's one of those appalling pieces of sh*t that come out of the press. While my friend's body is still warm, I'm being accused of doing commerce over his grave, and it absolutely disgusts me."
"Should there be a movie about Steve? For sure," Crowe went on about his good friend, "What an incredible and unique life he led. His childhood growing up with his mum and dad in a reptile park, but his ambitions turning that simple reptile park into the greatest zoo in Australia, and from my individual perspective, the place that really cares about the animals. What people really don't understand about Steven is Steven was, first and foremost, a conservationist, probably the most individually active conservationist in the world. What he stood for was far more than being the funny guy on TV. Serious people at serious universities realized who he really was."
Ah, well. We still think Crowe would do a great job portraying the Croc Hunter.
