Whenever the name Russell Crowe pops up, all film enthusiasts can remember movies like ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Cinderella Man’. He is a Hollywood sensation and practically everyone knows his name. Funnily enough, his first goal was not to be a movie star, but actually to be a musician. However, he was destined to be on the silver screen and not only act amazingly well but also have interesting incidents happen to him. He spoke about these unique incidents and many more with Joe Rogan in the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.

The most interesting one was a disastrous incident in the movie ‘Cinderella Man’. This story involved the epic fight scene depicting his character in the boxing ring. Yet, the fight was not just acting, he did get hit literally!

Russell Crowe narrates the story of how he got hit

The actor, musician, and director was talking about his movie ‘Cinderella Man’ when he spoke about the fight scenes and how he got injured in reality. The Oscar-winning actor played the role of boxing champion James Braddock and confessed that this role was the most difficult for him. He trained so intensely that he had equipment at home and practiced boxing Kostya Tszyu. Speaking about the same, he also narrated a harrowing injury incident.

Crowe revealed on ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ #2191, “His first name is Troy. Can’t remember his surname. He went on to become the light heavyweight champion of Canada. And a couple of these guys were Olympians. But the hardest hit I have ever received was in that fight with Troy. Because he was a Southpaw we both went in the same direction. We clashed heads. And then we just kept going with the scene. But I’m like literally seeing stars. It was like somebody had put a piece of metal through my temple.”

He was 40 at the time the movie was made and he boxed with a real athlete. In the climactic scene, the movie showed a 15-round fight between Jim Braddock and Max Baer played by Craig Bierko. He was so dedicated to his character that he even built a ring in his yard and made a boxing nook so that he could practice every day. The movie’s director Ron Howard had an even higher trainer Angelo Dundee who trained champions like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. The famous coach also witnessed James Braddock’s fights and knew what his boxing style was.

This was truly a mind-blowing story from the actor and Joe Rogan was left speechless. He was also astonished by another tale where Oscar-winning actor revealed that he wanted to become a musician.

Russell Crowe’s journey from music to movies

Russell Crowe also narrated a story about the time that he wanted to become a DJ. Crowe recalled, “I was going to go into music. That was my thing. You know, if I was going to pursue anything, it would be music. But basically, I would accept any job that allowed me to be in the position of entertaining people. So, that’s why I went into the nightclub thing with the, being a DJ.”

Unfortunately, the first stint as a DJ was not a success, and he lost the job the 2nd time. However, there was an interesting incident that happened where, for the second time, he auditioned for a place, but they gave it to someone else. Suddenly, they ended up firing the person after two nights because the DJ and the nightclub did not get along. Interestingly, he got a phone call from another nightclub asking him if he would become a DJ for them. However, this was a unique nightclub because there were only songs from the 1950s with one plastic orange turntable.

“So, I have to talk because every time a song finished I have to pick up this needle, the arm, pick up the record, you know, get the next one, put it down, then put things… So, it was just a crazy circumstance. It was like it was created to make sure that I broke through whatever that fear was immediately, now that I had another chance, you know,” Crowe revealed.

Meanwhile, after four years of staying in the nightclub, he expanded his experiences and started performing live on stage. Now he’s not only a film star but also a musician. Did you know this about the actor? Let us know in the comments.