Russell Crowe reveals he broke BOTH legs while performing a stunt on Robin Hood set but waited a decade to seek medical help: ‘I just kept going to work’

Russel Crowe is currently promoting her new action thriller film Land Of Bad, which also stars Liam Hemsworth, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle and Milo Ventimiglia.

During a recent conversation with People, the actor revealed how he once worked the last month of a film shoot with two broken legs.

The ‘little accident’ happened while performing a stunt for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood in the summer of 2009, when he had to jump down a portcullis, a heavy, vertically closing gate found at one of the medieval fortifications found in the film were used.

“I jumped from a castle portcullis onto a rock hard uneven surface,” the Oscar winner, 59, told the publication. “We should have prepared the ground and buried a path, but we were in a hurry to get the shot in the fading light.”

Crowe, who was 45 years old when he played the title role, did not realize the extent of the danger until he was over the landing site and about to make the jump.

“With hundreds of extras around, arrows flying and flaming pots setting the castle on fire, there was no retreat,” Crowe recalled. “As I jumped, I remember thinking, ‘This is going to hurt.'”

In those last few seconds, Crowe remembers thinking he wanted to land on the balls of his feet to help cushion the impact.

“It was like an electric shock shot through my body,” he recalled of his reaction to the pain, but ultimately he knew he had to persevere regardless of the injury.

“We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggle through it, but the last month of that job was very difficult,” the actor said. “There were some weeks where even walking was a challenge.”

Crowe said he “never discussed the injury with production, never took a day off for it, I just kept working.”

About ten years later, Crowe was prompted to consult a doctor when he began to experience “very strange pains” in his lower legs.

The Gladiator star didn’t think it was anything serious, and that it was likely the result of a lack of exercise and sun after “working through a long winter in New York City.”

So he was completely baffled when the doctor asked him, “When did you break your legs?” It turns out that the doctor found the remains of the fractures in both shin bones on X-rays.

Crowe didn’t even think about performing his own stunt for a scene that required him to jump from below over a portcullis, a heavy, vertical gate found at one of the medieval fortifications used in the production.

“I jumped off a castle portcullis on rock-hard, uneven ground,” the Oscar winner told People. “We should have prepared the ground and buried a path, but we were in a hurry to take the photo in the fading light.”

The native of Wellington, New Zealand, who grew up mainly in Sydney, Australia, said he struggled to even walk during the last month of the Robin Hood shoot

In an attempt to help Crowe remember when the injuries occurred, he told the actor that the X-rays show it would have been about ten years ago.

The stunt where he jumped off the portcullis on the Robin Hood set immediately came to mind when I heard the time frame.

“Apparently I finished that movie with two broken legs,” he said confidently. ‘Everything for art. No casts, no splints, no painkillers, just kept working and over time they healed on their own.”

Crowe must have subconsciously known at that point that something was physically wrong, as he took a year off work after the Robin Hood shoot. He only returned after signing on to play Jor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who is the biological father of Kal-El (Superman), in Man Of Steel, shot in the summer of 2011.

“Looking back, I clearly knew something was wrong,” the Academy Award winner said. “Being Superman’s Kryptonian father was six months of incredibly intense physical training. Between the time off and that training, everything sorted itself out.”

Robin Hood, which Scott worked on from a screenplay by Brian Helgeland, went on to earn $321.7 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of approximately $155-237 million, which was considered somewhat of a disappointment.

But there were critics who argued that the real financial setback for the production was not a lack of cash returns, but rather the fact that it went over budget.

The longtime leading man said he found out he had broken the tibias of both legs about a decade later, when he was asked to see a doctor when he started experiencing “very strange pain” in the lower parts of his legs ; the actor will be seen in October 2022

Crowe currently stars in William Eubank’s Land Of Bad, which just premiered in theaters on February 16

In addition to Crowe, the stellar cast included Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins and Max von Sydow.

Crowe had previously collaborated with Ridley Scott on the epic historical drama film Gladiator (2000), which ultimately became a major hit with fans and critics, grossing $465.4 million on a production budget of $103 million.

Among its many accolades, Gladiator won five Academy Awards, including Crowe’s coveted Best Picture and Best Actor.

A sequel is currently in development and will be released in the US on November 22.

William Eubank’s Land Of Bad just premiered in theaters on February 16.