Russell Crowe Draws His Bow For 'Robin Hood'
Filed under: Action, Drama, Romance, Universal, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Images, War
The first photo of Russell Crowe as the titular archer in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood has appeared online, courtesy of USA Today. (The whole photo is below the jump.) It's a nice, atmospheric shot with a very respectable and relatively accurate costume. The medievalist in me is automatically annoyed at Brian Grazer bragging about the costume: "He's got armor. He's very medieval. He looks, if anything, more like he did in Gladiator than anything we're used to seeing with Robin Hood." I mean, do people still expect Robin Hood to wear tights? I suppose they do, even though its not accurate, and no one has sported them onscreen since the days of Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks (not counting Cary Elwes). Most Robin Hoods wear sturdy, cool outfits nowadays, with lots of leather.
I do think it's funny Crowe went back to his Gladiator haircut after wearing that weird shaggy thing in State of Play that was supposed to be his Robin Hood coif. While this looks nicer, it's funny you'd go through one movie looking rather badly groomed, and go all sleek and Roman for a medieval film!
Anyway, there's not much else to say, so I'll leave you with a fun fact. Did you know that medieval peasants hated the longbow? You had to bulk up to use it, creating what they considered to be "unsightly" muscles and bodies. Eventually, you could rip open your chest muscles and be lame for the rest of your life. But making the lower classes so proficient in it was kind of a mistake, as the nobility found out during the Peasant's Revolt.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-20-2009 @ 9:42AM
Anita said...
Ok, he'll probably make a good Robin Hood (at least he won't be the only one speaking in an American accent during the movie like Kevin Costner did)...but having said that, why remake this movie AGAIN?!!! This is a story that has been done to death.
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4-20-2009 @ 9:51AM
Layne said...
Uh... That "weird, shaggy thing" in State of Play was not his Robin Hood coif. It was his Cal McAffrey coif. It's what his character in State of Play was supposed to look like. It was also a wig!
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4-20-2009 @ 2:28PM
Elisabeth said...
No, it was his hair. When doing press junkets for "State of Play" Crowe said he'd been growing it out for "Robin Hood," suffering through the look for one or two movies ... but then got on the Robin Hood set and chopped it off.
It was all over the AP. You can Google News "Russell Crowe" "hair" and "State of Play" and find it.
4-20-2009 @ 10:47AM
Jim said...
Good post, and thanks for the pic! Its great to see Crowe returning to the historical genre, if this is anything like his performance in Gladiator, I think we'll be in for a treat. To put my two cents in as to why this is being done again...its a timeless story, that in my opinion, people dont really tire of (except Anita I guess :). Plus, from what we've been told, its going to be a different kind of take on the story altogether. Put me on record as saying I can't wait to see this one!
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4-20-2009 @ 12:34PM
Julie said...
Looks great. The hair is a bit short...As far as I'm concerned they can keep makin Robin Hood movies until they get the damn thing right. I'm a Costner fan, and I like his Robin Hood for the Costner romance and that lovely fall wedding, And his costume was fantastic. Unfortunately the film is really is complete shite. I especially love the impromptu C-section! Here's hoping Russell does it better.
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4-21-2009 @ 1:19PM
f0c37a19 said...
I hope all those so-called fans who made moronic comments about Russel's shape will think again... I think he looks just fine, and really reminds me of Maximus, even that was 2000
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4-20-2009 @ 2:01PM
Katie said...
Nice picture but bad medieval history - no one "bulked up" to use a longbow. English freemen were trained to use the bows from childhood. Nor were longbows a factor in the Peasant's Revolt. Stick to talking about movies, eh?
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4-20-2009 @ 2:23PM
Elisabeth said...
No, no one was weight lifting but training with the longbow since birth would have naturally bulked up one's muscles. It is *incredibly* hard to use and takes a good deal of strength. You would have had to build up muscle strength to use it efficiently -- and considering how devastating the English longbowmen were, many did.
They have also found skeletons of medieval archers that are deformed, with elongated arms and bone spurs, proving what a terrible toll it took on one's body.
And yes, longbows were a factor in the Peasant's Revolt. Bows and longbows were the most common weapon as many owned at least a bow, and was proficient in it.
4-20-2009 @ 12:12PM
j said...
You know, it's true, Anita. Search your heart, nay- search your soul. And when you find Russel Crowe there you'll search no more.
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4-20-2009 @ 12:07PM
Brice_J said...
yes, in my opinion, this is definitely a film to look out for. ridley scott does great as a swords-and-sandals genre director. my 2 fave films of his (gladiator, kingdom of heaven; director's cut) never left me wanting more, always focused on character & why we should care for them. i don't see him failing here. although i can't speak as highly of his other films, this pic showing russel crowe in his robin hood giddup & a bow while in character has gotten me all excited now... thanks elisabeth!
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4-20-2009 @ 12:39PM
Cyhort said...
So we have a left wing president who is inciting class anger against the rich and now Hollywood is making yet another remake of a story that's about a guy who robs from the rich and gives to the poor? Subtle.........
Still I'll have to see a trailer before I decide whether or not to skip it. If they actually try to make it seem more like a historical fiction movie like Gladiator instead of socialist propaganda then it could be good.
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4-20-2009 @ 3:11PM
LordPaul said...
What on earth???
"Socialist Propaganda" - some people don't know when to leave politics at the door, or maybe learn about their own history (and consider that maybe it's possibly time to give an old political ideal a turn seeing as the last attempt at capitalism hasn't worked as well as was hoped)
But then again, I'm English, so my understanding of the black & white boundaries of some USAians is somewhat confused & limited.
4-20-2009 @ 1:59PM
Kathy SF said...
Some more intresting casting news.
Go to www.Topix.com/who/matthew-macfadyen for the latest!
;-)
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4-20-2009 @ 3:02PM
Jo said...
Sorry, Elisabeth, but Layne's right on this one. It's a wig. Russ was definitely growing his hair out for Hood, but wore a wig for SOP because by then his hair was LONGER than he wanted Cal's to be. You can find plenty of off-set pix out there on the internet with his uber-long ponytail BEFORE SOP was done. What he suffered through during the growing out process was having to wear a wig for both BOL and SOP. He referred to the long hair when it was wet as 'having a dead koala' on my back. Then he decided he 'didn't want Hood to look like a rock star' and chopped it off quite short, but not Maximus short. He only did that immediately as filming began. If you watch 'The Lion in Winter' you'll find rather similar cuts for O'Toole and Hopkins in the front, just a bit longer in back.
Jo
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4-20-2009 @ 4:07PM
Bridgid said...
I will give you the fact that no one bulked up to become an archer. My husband has been using a long bow and recurve for quite some time in competition in the past and he has remained lean though as he is right handed he has made an effort to keep his left arm equally strong.
Its not the draw weight of the bow btw its the repetition that caused injury and deformity. Women archers in history have taken great pains to participate as well, which I'd rather not think about.
As for Crowe's hair. I'm to side with Layne and Jo. It was a wig for SOP.
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4-20-2009 @ 5:49PM
Wendy Miller said...
Sorry, but what I've read is that Russell tried the long hair look as an experiment and then donated his extra locks to kids with cancer ... good for him! Looking forward to a sleeker look, his own, as he always seems to recreate himself for his latest role. Why banter about the need to redo "Robin Hood?" With one exception, prior efforts weren't all that impressive. Looking forward to another masterpiece from Ridley Scott. And so who better to command the leading role?
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6-05-2009 @ 3:59PM
Ms. M. said...
Oh goodie, goodie. Another Crowe film about violence and non-connection.....Mr. Crowe has been playing one note for so long he has fogotten the importance of acting....it requires range!!
I have no intention of supporting an actor that is no longer grateful or gracious to an auidence that he turns to for support and what we the auidence receives is a performance so hum drum that it makes one wonder why he was ever hired in the first place. Perhaps it would be well advised for Mr. Crowe to take some of his paycheck and invest in acting lessons to broaden himself.
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