Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has revealed he broke both his legs filming a scene for 2010’s Robin Hood, but he pushed through and kept filming.
Speaking to People, Crowe said the accident happened one day when he was filming a scene where his character, Robin Hood, jumped off a castle portcullis onto uneven ground below. Crowe said the filmmakers were “in a rush” to get the scene filmed before the sun went down, and, in hindsight, it might have been smarter to better prepare the surface with something soft to land on. But they didn’t do that, and Crowe paid the price.
“With hundreds of extras around, arrows flying and burn pots setting the castle on fire, there was no pulling out,” he said. “As I jumped, I remember thinking, ‘This is going to hurt.'”
Upon impact, Crowe said it felt like “an electric shock bursting up through my body.” He was intent on finishing the movie, so he pushed through the pain, despite even walking being a challenge for him. “All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves,” he said.
Crowe said he never told anyone on the production and never took a day off to heal. It wasn’t until 10 years later that Crowe said he started having “very strange pains,” so he went to the doctor to get looked at.
His doctor told him he could see “remnants of fractures in both shin bones” and assumed Crowe had broken his legs some time ago, which was indeed the case.
Crowe’s newest film is Land of Bad with Luke and Liam Hemsworth, and it’s in theaters now.
