Russell Crowe Fought to Keep Sex Scenes Out of the 2000s Gladiator

Russell Crowe’s role as Maximus in 2000’s Gladiator him as a bonafide movie star — but it’s the fights he had behind-the-scenes that are now making headlines.

“The thing is, there was a daily fight on that set,” Crowe, 61, recalled of his 2000 box office hit while appearing on the Monday, December 8, episode of the Australia radio’s Triple J. “It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character. The amount of times that they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus — it’s like, you’re taking away his power.”

For Crowe, the idea that Maximus would be a scoundrel amid his hero’s journey was a non-starter.

“So, you’re saying, at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy,” he quipped.

Clearly, Crowe’s insistence paid off. In 2000’s Gladiator, fans saw Crowe’s Maximus set out on a path of revenge after the murder of his wife and child. Maximus never engaged physically with anyone else following his wife’s death, solidifying the deep love he had for his late wife and child — a clear example of his character’s morality.

That’s why Crowe has an issue with the recent remake, 2024’s Gladiator 2.

“The recent sequel that we don’t have to name out loud is a really good example of, even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made that first one special,” he explained. “It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”

In the 2024 version, which was also directed by Ridley Scott, viewers learn that Maximus did have an affair before his wife’s death resulting in the birth of his son Lucius (Paul Mescal).

According to Crowe, some fans agree with his point of view and didn’t like that Gladiator 2 revealed Maximus was unfaithful after he was so determined to avenge his wife’s death in the first film.

“The women in Europe, when that movie started coming out, I would be at a restaurant, and they’d come talk to me [and complain],” he claimed. “It’s like, ‘Hey, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do it.’”

While Crowe was not affiliated with Scott’s 2024 sequel — his character died at the end of the 2000 movie — he has been asked about it time and time again.

In fact, prior to the movie’s release, Crowe told reporters at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, “They should be f***ing paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in.”

The English actor explained in summer 2023, “It has nothing to do with me. In that world, I am dead. Six feet under. But I do admit to a certain tinge of jealousy, because it reminds me of when I was younger and what it meant for me, in my life.”

Crowe noted at the time, “I don’t know anything about the cast, I don’t know anything about the plot. I am dead!”

He added, “But I know that if Ridley has decided to do a second part of the story, over 20 years later, he must have had very strong reasons. I can’t think of this movie being anything other than spectacular.”

Scott, 88, told Empire in September 2024 that Gladiator 2 had his “biggest action sequence” to date in a project, and his go big or go home attitude seemed to pay off.

Collider reported in January that the sequel brought in $172 million domestically in sales and $288 million from overseas markets totaling $460 million.

The original film brought in $465 million, including re-release revenue, per the outlet. Together both of Scott’s films have grossed over $900 million worldwide, ranking as his second and third largest money makers at the box office.

Scott’s 2015 hit The Martian stands as his No. 1 success making around $650 million globally.

Crowe, meanwhile, won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus in Gladiator, which also took home the 2001 Academy Award for Best Picture.