Russell Crowe won best actor in 2001 at the Oscars for his role in “Gladiator,” but he doesn’t believe he earned it.
On Australian show “Today,” Crowe, 56, revealed that he thought the film’s director, Ridley Scott, should have gotten most of the praise for the success of the movie.
“[After starring in ‘Gladiator’], I got so many pats on the back, and, you know, I got some big awards and all that, and obviously that sort of stepped me up to a different level for quite some time,” the actor said.
The actor revealed that after he re-watched the movie at a live screening of “Gladiator” at the Colosseum in Rome recently, he felt guilty for his awards.
“I watched that movie, and it is a director’s film. It was one of those moments of, ‘Why did I get all the attention, when the Academy Award belongs to Ridley Scott?’” he said.
“Gladiator” also received Oscar wins for best picture, best sound, best visual effects and best costume design.
Crowe’s recent comments about the film come a month after he revealed he almost turned down his award-winning role before he met Scott, 82.
“The [initial] script they had was so bad,” he said on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Crowe added: “It was just so bad! It was like, ‘OK, ummm. Yeah.’”
