Russell Crowe reveals that he broke both legs while filming Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, but that he kept working. Released in 2010, Scott’s take on the beloved folk hero follows a number of other Hollywood Robin Hood adaptations, including those that starred Sean Connery and Kevin Costner. The movie features Crowe as a much grittier version of Robin, offering up a new origin story for the character and following him as he stages a rebellion against the crown in a small village.
In a recent interview with People, Crowe reveals that doing one stunt from Robin Hood resulted in both of his legs breaking. He didn’t realize it at the time, however, and kept going into work, pushing through the pain. It wasn’t until a decade later that he went for x-rays due to “very strange pains” in his lower legs that revealed “remnants of fractures in both shin bones“. Check out Crowe’s recollection of the injuries below:
“I jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground. We should have prepped the ground and buried a pad but we were in a rush to get the shot done in the fading light. With hundreds of extras around, arrows flying and burn pots setting the castle on fire, there was no pulling out. As I jumped, I remember thinking, ‘This is going to hurt.’
“It was like an electric shock bursting up through my body. We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggle through, but the last month of that job was very tricky. There was a number of weeks where even walking was a challenge. [I] never discussed the injury with production, never took a day off because of it, I just kept going to work.
“Apparently I finished that movie with two broken legs. All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves.”
How Was Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood Received?
The 2010 Movie Wasn’t A Big Success
Robin Hood marked the fifth collaboration between Scott and Crowe, but it hasn’t gone down as their best. Critically and commercially, 2000’s Gladiator remains the pair’s most successful movie. Robin Hood ended up earning $321.7 million worldwide, a sum that would have been more impressive had the movie not had a massive production budget. Official numbers from the studio suggested the movie had a budget of $155 million, but a report from The Wrap subsequently claimed that the film’s budget was actually $237 million, which would mean the movie almost certainly lost money.
Critically, the film didn’t fare much better. Despite a strong cast, including actors like Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen, Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, William Hurt, and Oscar Isaac, the movie earned mixed reviews. Robin Hood‘s script went through a number of substantial rewrites, and this could be partly to blame. The film currently holds a lackluster 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is in keeping with many of the other recent takes on Robin Hood (see the chart below).
Title | Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score | Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
Robin Hood (2018) | 15% | 40% |
Robin Hood (2010) | 44% | 58% |
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) | 51% | 72% |
Ultimately, Robin Hood features some exciting action and a characteristically strong and charismatic performance from Crowe, but it’s not one of Scott’s best movies. Although the movie failed to make much of an impact with audiences and critics, it’s clear that filming it had a fairly big impact on Crowe, and the actor’s behind-the-scenes story speaks to his dedication to his craft.
