Russell Crowe called the idea that he ever auditioned for My Best Friend’s Wedding “pure imagination.” Earlier this year, director P.J. Hogan said he wanted the Gladiator star to play the male lead in the romantic comedy hit that cemented Julia Roberts‘ star status. Hogan claimed Crowe even did a table read with Roberts, but there was no chemistry and the part went to Dermot Mulroney.
“Pure imagination on behalf of this director,” Crowe tweeted on Oct. 14. “I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned. Would be funny if it wasn’t so pointless.”
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In February, Vulture published an excerpt from Scott Meslow’s From Hollywood With Love, a book on the making of romantic comedies like My Best Friend’s Wedding ahead of the movie’s 25th anniversary. Hogan told Meslow his “first choice” for the male lead role was Crowe, who was just about to have his Hollywood breakout role in L.A. Confidential. Hogan knew of Crowe because his wife, Jocelyn Moorhouse, worked with the actor on Proof in 1991.
“Russell was, I thought, probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered. I kind of knew Russell was going to be a really big star,” Hogan said. He was worried Roberts would not approve of the casting though. Hogan hoped a table read would convince Roberts that Crowe needed to be in the film. It did not go well.
“I don’t know what went wrong,” Hogan told Meslow. “It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced. Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once. He read every line in a monotone. At one point, Julia was literally leaning over the table, staring, like, inches from Russell’s face, trying to make eye contact. And he wouldn’t look at her.” Hogan also claimed Crowe thought the table read went well, but he immediately knew Crowe would not be in the movie.
It’s unclear why Crowe chose now to dispute Hogan’s account months after it was published. At the time Crowe tweeted about the story, he was in Rome to attend the city’s film festival and promote his new film, Poker Face. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri presented Crowe with a plaque reading “Rome’s ambassador to the world.”ย
Roberts and Crowe have never made a movie together. However, they coincidentally won their Oscars in the same year. In 2001, Crowe won Best Actor for Gladiator and Roberts won Best Actress for Erin Brockovich. Both films were nominated for Best Picture, with Gladiator coming out on top.
