Russell Crowe Admits Regret Over Passing on Role that Became Joaquin Phoenix’s Standout Performance

All Hollywood stars reject many roles throughout their career. Sometimes they are glad they did it, but other times it becomes a thorn in their side that they can never get rid of. Russell Crowe is no exception, because in an interview with Daily Mail he revealed the only role that he regrets having passed by.

The film that Crowe rejected was ‘Walking a Tightrope’, where he would have played Johnny Cash. The role eventually went to Joaquin Phoenix, his co-star in ‘Gladiator’. This is what he commented on her decision not to accept to participate in the biopic directed by James Mangold:

The protagonist of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ points out that “taking advantage of Johnny Cash to get Grammy nominations… it seemed wrong to me”. However, he realized the tremendous mistake he had made as soon as he had the opportunity to see ‘On the tightrope’.

Phoenix was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, an award that ultimately went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his work on ‘Truman Capote’. For his part, Crowe released that year ‘Cinderella Man’.