“Good evening, Rome. Good evening, Romans. I am finally here, in the city where my heart beats faster.”
Enthusiastic applause erupted from the swelling crowd of fans on the steps of the Roman Theatre at the legendary Italian studio Cinecittà on Saturday as the Gladiator himself, New Zealand star Russell Crowe, stepped out to perform.
Crowe, who was recently named the official ambassador for Rome’s bid to host the 2030 world expo, gave a free concert, accompanied by his band the Indoor Garden Party, performing alongside The Gentlemen Barbers and Irish singer Lorraine O’Reilly.
Dressed all in black — like the rest of the band — Crowe immediately launched a few blues-flavored tunes, filling the stage as a singer with the same ease and charm he has as an actor on stage.
Watching him from the bleachers is Gabriele Muccino, Crowe’s close friend, who directed him in Fathers and Daughters, as well as the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. Crowe’s between-song banter is a mix of English and Italian and his band’s set is a mash up of music genres, a bit of folk, some rock, a dash of country. He jokes his bandmate Lennie Loftin “tends to write songs where someone dies in the middle” and introduces a performance by his teenage son Charlie noting that “when I did Gladiator he wasn’t alive yet.”
Launching into a new number, Crowe calls the audience to come down from the bleachers and they comply. The seats of the Teatro Antico at Cinecittà Studios empty out and a crush of people pack up against the stage, dancing and holding their cellphones aloft, recording the moment.
“Let your light shine,” Crowe sings, lit by the glow of all those smartphones.
THR Roma got a few moments with Crowe before soundcheck, at Cinecittà’s Fellini Hall, together with Fabia Bettini and Gianluca Giannelli, directors of the parallel section of Rome’s Alice in the City film festival and organisers of today’s event, as well as Cinecittà managing director Nicola Maccanico.
Today might be all about the music for Crowe but one question about the Hollywood writers’ strike and the Oscar-winning actor is off.
“I think artificial intelligence is a threat to creativity,” says Crowe, lighting on a key topic of the strike. “If we let it take over, the creativity of the human mind will be lost and our lives will all be much poorer…. We are at an extremely important and dangerous turning point. The writers’ and actors’ unions along with the producers are pushing to try to find a solution.”
Crowe, however, does not seem particularly optimistic: “You would think that maybe, since they are adults, they would take mature considerations. But unfortunately, when there is so much money at stake, the situation is not ideal. I hope it will be resolved soon. As for me, I believe that a prolonged strike or long negotiations between the producers and studios would not lead to a better situation, but a worse one.”
Through his 30-year career in the film industry — as an actor he has worked with such great directors as Ron Howard, Michael Mann, Peter Weir, and Zack Snyder — as well as, of course, Ridley Scott (on Gladiator, Robin Hood, A Good Year, etc.), Crowe has lived through a transformation in the film industry.
“It’s something I experienced on the set of Robin Hood in 2010. It was a huge set with lots of construction and a massive physical presence. They had even rebuilt a castle. That’s where I had my epiphany. I realized it would be the last time I would be on a set like that,” he recalls. “Over the years, I got to be in Marvel movies. There, you’re in huge green spaces that get filled with scenery in post production. While there’s nostalgia for the past, you have to come to terms with change. There is no middle ground anymore: Today, you go from huge budget films to low-budget films. The middle slice, a film like A Beautiful Mind, is missing. Those stories are only being made as TV series.”
One thing is clear from Saturday’s performance, and the local crowd’s reaction: Crowe loves Rome and Rome really loves Crowe.
“My connection with Rome starts with Gladiator, a thousand percent. I’ve done so many other things since that film. But what I find here is absolutely fantastic,” says Crowe. “The welcome people give me here is one of warmth and familiarity. They consider me almost an uncle. It’s something that transcends fame and notoriety. It is not just because I am famous. What I find here in Italy, in terms of affection and recognition of my artistic qualities, I don’t get even in Australia.”
If Rome succeeds in securing the world expo in 2030 — Crowe is doing his part to beat the drum as the eternal city’s official ambassador — will the actor be back, maybe to perform in the Colosseum with his band?
“A concert in the Colosseum in 2030? Do you know how bloody old I’ll be? I’d come with a wheelchair!” he says, noting before he heads off. “I’d rather do a concert next year!”
But will Crowe return for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 sequel? Check out his answer, in the THR Roma video below.
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