Joe Rogan’s Praise for Kevin Garnett’s Acting Met With Russell Crowe’s Blunt Response to NBA Legend’s Role in Uncut Gems

Joe Rogan has now traversed the lands of commentating at the UFC events to reviewing movies and appreciating actors for their beautifully played characters. Needless to say, Kevin Garnett’s performance in Benny and Josh Safdie’s ‘Uncut Gems’ has received quite some praise from the cinematic world. And Rogan was also one of those who appreciated the film. 

But little did the JRE host know that his words would attract an acting lesson from one of the most celebrated actors in Hollywood who had one “simple thing” to explain!

Joe Rogan and Russell Crowe break down Kevin Garnett’s acting 

In episode #2191 of the Joe Rogan Experience, the 56-year-old podcaster invited the ‘Gladiator’ star Russell Crowe to the podcast studio. And no conversation with such a phenomenal actor is complete without a discussion about acting, don’t you think? Rogan struck the topic of ‘Uncut Gems’ and lauded the NBA star, Kevin Garnett, for his performance in the film. 

The UFC color commentator said, “Acting is one of the strangest things that some people have an ability to do like, there’s athletes that have gone into films, you know, just played an athlete in a film and do a f***ing amazing job. Like, was it, who was in ‘Uncut Gems’? Was it Kevin Durant? No. Kevin Garnett? Amazing in it. He plays a professional basketball player, he is a professional basketball player.”

But Crowe swooped in to explain the reason behind the NBA star’s splendid performance in Adam Sandler’s ‘Uncut Gems’. Crowe said, “But there’s that thing right? There’s a simple thing to understand that you’re just going to inhabit the character, you know. And you can’t operate yourself a little bit like a puppet master emotionally or whatever, you know.” While some actors were pretty good at soaking in the character, others were simply the opposite. And that is reflected in the movies. 

Crowe himself is an actor who becomes the character rather than acting it. Hence, when talks around that topic began, his past films came into the limelight with one in particular: A Beautiful Mind. And when discussions ensued, it wasn’t long before the Hollywood legend revealed a secret about the film.

Why was Crowe happy with the completion of ‘A Beautiful Mind’?

During the conversation, Rogan brought up Crowe’s mesmerizing depiction of a smart man with schizophrenia in A Beautiful Mind. The beloved UFC color commentator even stated that the movie was one of his favorites. Russell Crowe, however, revealed that playing the character of Josh Nash was a bit too demanding. He said, “The relief when that movie was over was huge, you know because you do tie yourself in knots a little bit when you’re playing a character like that, you know, and that’s part of the job, and you just go with that flow, you know.”

Crowe then also revealed that the writer of the story had personally seen what schizophrenic patients go through since his parents used to treat those patients. Jumping into the character was made fairly easy with all the knowledge he gained from the writer. Notably, there was a subtle device embedded in the movie as well. It was the question that made the audience ask whether they were watching Josh Nash’s life or whether they were inside his head.

Needless to say, ‘A Beautiful Mind’ left quite a mark on society, with 4 Academy Awards, and an Oscar nomination. After all, becoming emotionally one with the character was what the great actors did.

What are your thoughts on ‘Uncut Gems’ and ‘A Beautiful Mind’? Which movie did you like better? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.