In the wake of “Robin Hood,” Russell Crowe elected to take a break from acting and heal his legs. When he inevitably returned to the big screen, though, he did so in a somewhat more memorable and better-received feature: “Man of Steel” from director Zack Snyder. The DC Extended Universe-launching 2013 film features Crowe as the father of Kal-El (Henry Cavill), aka Superman, Jor-El. While he’s far from the main star of the movie, he still went through an intense training regimen to bring the Kryptonian to life.
In fact, Crowe told People that between the year off from acting and his “Man of Steel” workout routine, his legs seemed to heal up on their own. “I obviously knew something was wrong,” he admitted, adding, “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.” Seeing as he went to a medical professional to get his legs looked at years later, it stands to reason he didn’t make a full recovery by resting and hitting the gym, but the fact that his legs largely healed all by themselves is undeniably incredible.
Now knowing what Crowe went through on the set of “Robin Hood,” hopefully, some of its detractors can find a newfound form of appreciation for the film and offer Crowe a bit more credit for his performance.
