russell crowe

But who is he playing?

The actor explains to Howard Stern why he turned down the blockbuster franchise.

Dueling guns? A Muhammad Ali plaster cast? Leonardo DiCaprio’s dinosaur bones? You can buy them all from Russell Crowe next month.

It didn’t take long for someone to spill the beans on Danny McBride’s weird Dundee movie, which, as some suspected, is part of an elaborate ad campaign. Still, it’s hard to deny the appeal of a Crocodile Dundee sequel starring Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth — no matter how obviously fake it is. So we’re not exactly mad about the “full trailer” for the “movie,” which unveils a cast stacked with Aussie faves like Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie.

Many fans of Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men movie know that Dougray Scott was originally cast in the role of Wolverine before bowing out due to scheduling conflicts with Mission: Impossible 2. That being said, it’s Russell Crowe’s connection to the film that make for the most interesting bit of Hollywood trivia. As the story goes, Crowe was Singer’s first choice to play Wolverine, but the actor passed, suggesting instead that the filmmaker look at fellow Australian Hugh Jackman. The rest, as they say, is history.

If we’re being honest with each other, I’m not typically a big fan of behind-the-scenes videos and features. These days they all seem the same: an actor jumps in front of a blue background and lands on a blue foam pad, and everyone stands up and smiles at each other for a job well done. My one big exception is Tom Cruise movies. Cruise’s action films are a testament to doing things the hard way, so every highlight reel of the actor slamming into cars, hitting his head against walls, or getting punched in the face is a testament to a dying trade.

Every year, when the bottom drops out of the summer movie season and audiences decide to stay home and watch television instead, some well-meaning critic will publish an article asking if cinema is dead. And every year, I pose the same question in response: “Is Tom Cruise still an action star?” As long as Tom Cruise is running across multiplex screens — fighting rogue nations, government consiparcies, and even the occasional mummy — there is still hope for cinema. Then, when Cruise’s career is done and Hollywood is in ashes, then, cinema, you have my permission to die.

Russell Crowe is mostly known for his dramatic roles, but this week he'll be taking a long-awaited crack at comedy when he hosts Saturday Night Live. He's joined by his new drinking buddy, castmember Leslie Jones, in these promos.

A former castmember and a first-timer have been tapped to host Saturday Night Live this month.