Russell Crowe Regrets Turning Down An Oscar-Winning Biopic

In the early 2000s, Russell Crowe was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Crowe began to work in American feature films throughout the 1990s, appearing in movies like "Virtuosity," and "The Quick and the Dead." He really got noticed in 1997 when he appeared as the hard-fisted Bud White in Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential." Crowe received his first Oscar nomination in 1999 for his performance in "The Insider," and he won an Oscar for playing the title fighter in Ridley Scott's 2000 epic "Gladiator." Not to be outdone, he was nominated again in 2001 for playing the real-life mathematician John Nash in Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind." Crowe stood astride the Earth like a mighty Colossus. 

Thereafter, Crowe seemed to carefully select mostly prestige pictures that allowed him to stretch as an actor. In 2003, he played Captain Jack Aubrey in Peter Weir's truly excellent historical war film "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." In 2005, he re-teamed with Howard to make the boxing biopic "Cinderella Man." In 2006, he re-teamed with Ridley Scott to make the romantic drama "A Good Year." He had people he liked to work with, and knew what kind of performances he wanted to give. He had earned the right to be picky, and to say "no" to projects he didn't want. 

Although he did refuse a biopic that would ultimately go on to win multiple Oscars. In the mid-2000s, Crowe was approached about playing Johnny Cash in James Mangold's hit film "Walk the Line." The role ended up going to Joaquin Phoenix, who was nominated for an Oscar. In 2019, Crowe admitted on the radio show "Fitzy and Wippa" (as covered by the Australian News) that he regretted turning down the part. He might have been able to nail it. 

Crowe, it turns out, was initially very excited to be offered the role of Johnny Cash. He, like so many, was a Johnny Cash fan, and he had a certain amount of singing acumen, having performed in his band, 30-Odd Foot of Grunts. He turned the role down because he felt that he would have been piggybacking too much on Cash's fame. Perhaps he felt that if he performed Cash's songs in Cash's style, the public's extant affection for the music would draw praise, and not his originality or talent. About the matter, Crowe said:

"It was one of those funny things with an internal morality, it was like, 'This is a dream job for me.' [...] I'd been playing, singing Johnny Cash songs since I was a little boy. But I felt that I would be then getting stuff that I hadn't earned, that I'd be climbing on Johnny Cash's back to get Grammy nominations or something, it just felt wrong to me. I know from personal experience that [Joaquin Phoenix] is one of the greatest actors out there, so the fact he did an incredible job is absolutely no surprise to me." 

It made sense to him at the time. But when he finally saw the completed version of "Walk the Line," Crowe felt an enormous pang of regret. He may have liked Phoenix, but he also longed to be up there on the screen. He said wistfully:

"[F]rom the very first notes ... when the soundtrack starts, the knife jab into my heart starts. Oh God, not only did I want to do the movie, but this was the exact version of the movie I wanted to do." 

C'est la vie. So it goes.