Joaquin Phoenix tried to quit 'Gladiator'; Russell Crowe called it 'terribly unprofessional': director
foxnews.comDirector Ridley Scott shared a heated behind-the-scenes moment from the film "Gladiator." Scott said Joaquin Phoenix nearly refused to play his villainous role, Commodus, in the 2000 action film. "He was in his prince’s outfit saying, ‘I can’t do it.’ I said, ‘What?’ the "Gladiator" director told The New York Times.
Scott added that Russell Crowe said, "This is terribly unprofessional." When the director was asked "how do you convince someone to stay" on a movie set, Scott replied, "I can act as a big brother or dad.
But I’m quite a friend of Joaquin’s. ‘Gladiator’ was a baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning." His comments come after Phoenix recently dropped out of a new film by Todd Haynes as it was about to start production.
Barry Keoghan was cast to play a villain in the upcoming "Gladiator II" movie but quit at the last minute. Scott compared Keoghan and Phoenix. "Barry got locked into ‘Saltburn,' Scott said. "I think that’s maybe the best film I’ve seen this year.
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