Russell Crowe Says He Broke Both His Legs On Set — And Didn't Realize It Until 10 Years Later
Russell Crowe has revealed that filming 2010′s “Robin Hood” left him with an injury he didn’t even know he had until a decade later.
In a new interview with People published Saturday, Crowe shared that he fractured both his legs while performing a stunt for the action film.
He said the fiasco began after he “jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground.” He noted that there wasn’t any padding to soften his fall because “we were in a rush to get the shot done in the fading light.”
Since the set was so chaotic, he said he didn’t realize the danger he was in until it was time for him to take the leap.
“As I jumped, I remember thinking, ‘This is going to hurt,’” he said.
The “Land of Bad” star said he uncomfortably landed heels first on the uneven ground, resulting in “an electric shock bursting up through my body.”
“We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggle through, but the last month of that job was very tricky. There was a number of weeks where even walking was a challenge,” he said, adding that he “never discussed the injury with production” and “never took a day off because of it.”
But 10 years after the film was released, Crowe said he wound up visiting a physician after experiencing “very strange pains” in his lower legs.
“I thought it was nothing serious,” the Oscar winner recalled of his doctor’s visit. “After working through a long New York winter, my body was just missing exercise and sunshine.”
After examining Crowe, the doctor asked him when he had broken his legs after noticing “remnants of fractures in both shin bones.”
Crowe said he instantly thought of the time he jumped off the castle in “Robin Hood.”
“Apparently I finished that movie with two broken legs,” he said. “All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves.”
Following the release of “Robin Hood,” Crowe took a break from acting until he reemerged for 2013’s “Man of Steel.”
As for how his legs healed, the actor said that “between the time off and that training [for Man of Steel], things fixed themselves.”
