Nearly 14 years after Robin Hood hit theaters, Russell Crowe reveals that he was significantly injured while on the action-packed set.
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During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Crowe recalled fracturing both of his legs while filming Robin Hood. “I jumped off a castle portcullis onto rock-hard uneven ground,” he explained. “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.”
Russell Crowe further admitted that he didn’t realize the dangerous situation until he was preparing to make the jump. “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.’”
Noting how he felt as his heels hit the uneven ground, Crowe said, “It was like an electric shock bursting up through my body. We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggled through it, but the last month of that job was very tricky. There was a number of weeks where even walking was a challenge.”
Crowe went on to add that he never discussed the injury with the production team. He also never took a day off because of it. “I just kept going to work,” he noted.
Russell Crowe Said 10 Years Later He Experienced ‘Very Strange Pains’ in His Lower Legs
A decade after his Robin Hood injury, Russell Crowe said he started experiencing some “very strange pains” in his lower legs. He decided to go to the doctor and get an MRI as well as X-rays done.
“I thought it was nothing serious,” Crowe said. “After working through a long New York winter, my body was just missing exercise and sunshine.”
However, he was later asked by the doctor if he had broken his legs. “Apparently he could see the remnants of fractures in both shin bones,” Crowe revealed. “To jog my memory he said, ‘Would have been maybe 10 years ago?’”
Russell Crowe went on to declare that he finished the film with two broken legs. “All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves.”
Although he took a year off after Robin Hood and didn’t resume work until Man of Steel, Crowe added he knew something was wrong. “To be the Kryptonian father of Superman was six months of incredibly intense physical training. Between the time off and that training, things fixed themselves.”