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Maximus scooter! Gladiator actor Russel Crowe, 58, is back in Rome for new horror film The Pope’s Exorcist as he is pictured whizzing through the Italian capital on a Lambretta moped while dressed as a priest
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He rode to the top of Hollywood’s A-list the last time he played a hero fighting evil in Rome.
Now Russell Crowe wants to get back to the top of billing – after riding a moped through the Eternal City for his final role as the Vatican exorcist.
Bearded Crowe, 58, known for his lofty past, wore a cassock but no helmet as he whizzed through the streets of the Italian capital.
Russell Crowe wants to get back to the top of billing – after riding a moped through the Eternal City for his final role as a Vatican exorcist
The actor rose to fame as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 hit Gladiator
In his new movie, The Pope’s Exorcist, he plays Father Gabriele Amorth who is said to have exorcised devils by performing over 100,000 exorcisms.
The actor rose to fame as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 hit Gladiator. In his new film, The Pope’s Exorcist, he plays Father Gabriele Amorth who is said to have cast out devils by performing more than 100,000 exorcisms.
New Zealand-born Crowe rode around the Colosseum on a white-and-red Lambretta scooter — with a Ferrari logo — in aviator sunglasses and trainers.
After filming, he was joined by his American girlfriend Britney Theriot, 31, as they explored Rome on electric scooters.
Crowe, the father of two, who divorced wife Danielle in 2018, has been in a relationship with former actress Miss Theriot since 2020.
They are said to have met during the making of the movie Broken City in 2013. Last week he was joined on set in Rome by his friend and English rugby league hero Sam Burgess who watched Crowe change in character.
Crew members and makeup artists regularly came to his aid to make sure his outfit looked good, as well as to brush his hair and trim his gray beard.
His portly look as the exorcist was a far cry from his Oscar-winning turn as muscular hero Maximus – a feared Roman general turned slave, then a gladiator fighting in the Colosseum
His genteel look as the exorcist was a far cry from his Oscar-winning turn as muscular hero Maximus – a feared Roman general turned slave and then a gladiator fighting in the Colosseum.
The Pope’s Exorcist would draw on Father Amorth’s two autobiographies.
The priest – who died in 2016 at the age of 91 – was ordained in 1951. In 1986 he was asked to assist the supreme enchanter in Rome, and in 1992 he was named his successor.
It is said that many thousands of his exorcisms succeeded in dispelling evil spirits.
The Pope’s Exorcist, starring Franco Nero as the Pope and directed by Australian Julius Avery, is due out next year.