Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

## Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

### 'Gladiator' actor opens up about his injuries, his career, and his personal life

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

Russell Crowe may have a "s--t ton of regrets," but the 60-year-old Oscar winner also knows he’s lived a wonderful life.

"I’ve been unreasonably happy for most of my life," the "Sleeping Dogs" actor told GQ in a new interview.

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

"I know that bothers some people, but that’s just not my problem," he said. "I pursue creatively and artistically what I want to do, and I have done that for probably about 35 years, you know? I do it unapologetically. And my choices are always freaking people out."

He said people questioned why he made 2012's "The Man With the Iron Fists," directed by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

"I was like, ‘Well, I really believe in Bobby Diggs, RZA, I definitely know that he’s got a director’s brain and that he understands film, and when else am I ever gonna get to play a character like this?’"

But Crowe also admitted that he has a lot of regrets and doesn’t understand how some people can claim they don’t have any in their lives.

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

"’Really? Not one single thing you ever did. Right? You’re so f-----g perfect.’ I’ve got a s--t ton of regrets. An angry word, an overreaction, a missed opportunity for friendship – lots of things like that," he told the outlet. "But all of those things are in perspective, because I’ve done lots of really cool s--t too. My regrets are, in a way, badges of honour. Having the ability to have that introspection and go, ‘You know, the other day you were a f-----g d--k, mate. Do your best not to be a f-----g d--k like that again.’"

The actor, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus in "Gladiator," also told Kyle Meredith on his podcast this week that he has a tinge of melancholy" and "jealousy" over seeing another actor step into the lead role of the movie’s sequel 24 years later.

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

"I reflect back, the age I was when I made that film and all the things that came after it and the doors that that particular movie opened for me. So, there’s definitely a tinge – and this is just being purely honest – a tinge of melancholy, tinge of jealousy, because I remember a life when I had tendons," he laughed.

And while he said he’s a "little uncomfortable" with the sequel and some of the character arcs he feels don’t make sense in "their moral journey," "I’m dead, and I have no say in what gets done," he said, referring to the death of his character in the first film.

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

"Gladiator II," which is also directed by Ridley Scott, is expected to be released this fall and stars Paul Mescal.

Crowe elaborated on his injuries in his interview with GQ, published Thursday, saying, "I do carry a lot of injuries. Over time, you start to feel it."

Russell Crowe: 'I've Got a S--t Ton of Regrets' but 'Been Unreasonably Happy' for Most of His Life

He continued: "I’ve got no cartilage in my big toes, because the sports that I played were all lateral movement sports – tennis, rugby and cricket, where you’re sprinting from a cold start – on top of the fight sequences, where sometimes you’ve got to make a very extreme sudden move to save yourself in a situation where something’s gone wrong."

He said he has heel fasciitis, shin splints, bone-marrow edemas under both knees and "all manner of things" going on with his back.

"I’ve got ribs that just pop off the spine if I put them under too much pressure," he said. "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 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--k off."

Crowe said that every one of his problems relates to "something that went wrong on a film set. I’ve only got one scar on my body that isn’t related to film. I jumped over a fence when I was about 14, and somebody had smashed a Coke bottle. I ended up jumping right onto it and I had to get stitches."

But he said all of his injuries were worth it, because he liked doing his own stunts when he was younger.

"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,’" he told GQ. "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 realize they were just trying to point out that maybe it’s better to keep your own tendons. Life’s easier with tendons."

But he also says he never expected to be in the place he is at his age.

"I work constantly. I'm always turning down more things than I can do. I even sort of have to walk away from some things that I’m quite interested in, just because I can’t fit them in, so I look at that and go ‘There’s just no way in the world that I would have thought at any stage of my life growing up that at the age of 60 I would be in that position."