The 'Gladiator' actor was asked to tell Torv that she landed a role in the then doomed film and he relieved that he did not do it because the project was shut down few weeks later.
- November 17, 2010
AceShowbiz - Russell Crowe had some surprising news for actress Anna Torv when they reunited on U.S. TV on Monday, November 16, revealing just how close she had come to starring alongside him and Nicole Kidman in doomed movie "Eucalyptus". The actors were both guests on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and the "Gladiator" star admitted they had almost worked together on the big screen back in 2005.
Crowe was asked to congratulate Torv for landing a role in the film but refused to break the news to the young Aussie, insisting it was the director's job to do so. He explained, "The movie was called 'Eucalyptus', which was never made."
"I don't know if you ever knew the real story behind that. We didn't have an audition, we met in a park. The director called me and she said, 'You have to go meet Anna in the Botanic Gardens and you have to tell her she's got the role.' I'm like, 'Why should I do that? That's your gig, you're the director.' She was like, 'I just need you to do that, create a bond of trust between the two of you...' "
"So I went and we were sitting in the park and I had this sort of instinct, 'I'm not gonna say that, it just doesn't feel right that I should say that'. So we had a chat." And Crowe was left breathing a sigh of relief when the moviemaker had a change of heart: "I go back home to get a message from the director saying, 'I've changed my mind, you have to call Anna and tell her she hasn't got the role!' Some sort of control issue. Five weeks later the director quits the part and I get the blame for it!"
