Russell Crowe Was "Insulted" By Deadpool 2 Audition Invite
Some people just don't read for roles.
Whatever you do, don't ask Russell Crowe to audition for your movie. He wouldn't be impressed, no matter what the project is. To be fair, he's such a big star that you should expect that.
But Deadpool creator Rob Leifeld must have missed the memo, because he managed to get on the wrong side of the Gladiator star by suggesting that he should put his hat into the ring to play Cable in Deadpool 2.
Apparently, Liefeld's excited suggestion fell on stony ground, as he told Collider:
Then one night before I went to bed, I didn’t know Russell Crowe was on Twitter, and I stupidly tweeted to Russell Crowe – not ever thinking he’d answer me – and I go ‘Hey Russell, you should read for Cable!’ That didn’t turn out very well, I got yelled at a lot, because I woke up – because he’s in Australia – to Russell Crowe saying ‘Read for it?!’ And my manager said ‘Yeah, Russell Crowe doesn’t read for parts Rob, you kind of insulted him. I’m like ‘I’m sorry! They just haven’t picked Cable yet so I’m just putting it out there.’ And then my phone rings, so some Fox people may or may not have yelled at me for an hour.
Not a smart move that, even if Crowe would have been a great candidate to play the time travelling anti-hero. It's unlikely he would have looked quite as impressive as Josh Brolin though.
Given that another actor who was heavily linked with the role - Brad Pitt - ended up with a hilarious cameo, it might be the case that we get to see Crowe in a future Deadpool movie, but maybe don't hold your breath for it just yet.