Russell Crowe still in pain from film set injuries
Russell Crowe is still suffering from the numerous injuries he's picked up on film sets over the years.
The 'Gladiator' star - who turned 60 in April - has revealed he's picked up a long list of ailments while filming action sequences on his movies and he's currently battling arthritis in his left shoulder after undergoing two operations on it but he isn't keen on having a third surgery to fix the issue.
He told GQ magazine: "I’ve got heel fasciitis. I’ve got shin splints. I’ve got bone-marrow edemas under both knees. I’ve got all manner of things going on with my back. I’ve got ribs that just pop off the spine if I put them under too much pressure.
"I’ve had two operations on my left shoulder, but now that shoulder is so full of arthritis that for me to get back to a place of comfort, they’ve basically gotta cut in, take the the whole humeral head out, they’ve gotta chop it in half, stick carbon fibre in there and sew it back up, and there’s a recovery period of 11 months. F*** off ...
"Every one of these things relates to something that went wrong on a film set."
Crowe went on to reveal the only scar on his body that doesn't relate to a film set injury comes from jumping a fence as a teenager and landing on a smashed glass bottle which left him needing stitches.
When asked if his movie injuries were "worth it", he replied: "Yeah, because that’s the way I did it. I remember back in the early ’90s I was talking to some older American guys, and this one guy said, 'Look, you see that guy over there who’s dressed exactly the same as you? He’s here so you don’t have to roll in the dirt for six or seven hours a day.'
"And I’m like, 'But I’m playing the character, so I’m gonna be the one rolling in the dirt.' As you get older, you realise they were just trying to point out that maybe it’s better to keep your own tendons. Life’s easier with tendons."
It comes after Crowe revealed he broke both his legs while filming 2010's 'Robin Hood' - but didn't realise until a decade later.
Speaking to People magazine, Russell - who played the titular outlaw in the movie - explained: "I jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground. We should have prepped the ground and buried a pad but we were in a rush to get the shot done in the fading light.
"With hundreds of extras around, arrows flying and burn pots setting the castle on fire, there was no pulling out. As I jumped, I remember thinking, 'This is going to hurt.' "
The 'Land of Bad' actor didn't seek medical attention at the time, and the injury wasn't picked up until 10 years later after he began experiencing "very strange pains" in his lower legs.
He said: "I thought it was nothing serious. After working through a long New York winter, my body was just missing exercise and sunshine."
The Oscar-winning star underwent MRI scans and X-rays and was stunned when the doctor looked at the images and asked when he had broken his legs.
He added: "Apparently he could see the remnants of fractures in both shin bones. To jog my memory he said, 'Would have been maybe 10 years ago?' " Russell immediately remembered the 'Robin Hood' shoot. He said: "Apparently I finished that movie with two broken legs. All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves."
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