How Crowe prepared for Hood role

MANILA, Philippines - Russell Crowe is known for immersing himself in a role — he’s changed his body to suit a performance, piling on the pounds for The Insider (which earned him an Oscar nomination), and, more recently, to play a CIA agent in Scott’s Body of Lies. He’s beefed up for Gladiator and pushed his body to its physical limits to play boxer Jim Braddock in Cinderella Man.

For Robin Hood, he trained hard and thoroughly enjoyed the preparation process, particularly the archery, a sport that he has a strong affinity for. “It’s a bit like learning golf, which I did for The Insider,” says Russell. Robin Hood, released under United International Pictures, is now showing in Metro Manila theaters.

“And man, I loved it. It’s great. I said to the guy who was teaching me, ‘I’m in love with the flight…’ I just love it when the arrow is released from the bow… and he was like ‘Well, it’s your sport then.’”

“And we’ve done much more than we expected to do in the film, in terms of being able to get actual shots in there where we can shoot an arrow and hit a target, or doing things like hunting and putting the camera up in the trees, 120 yards away, and so you focus on a tiny little figure and then you see the arrow go ‘whoosh!’ straight to the camera. But you can only do that sort of stuff if you take the time to learn the sport. It’s cool, man, very cool…”

“Robin Hood is unashamedly epic,” says producer Charles Schlissel, “a re-telling of one of the most enduring myths of all time. The main theme of Gladiator was a man who was trying to find peace and get home. Our film is about a man who is trying to find his destiny. Robin finds his, discovers his past and his future.”