Russell Crowe a Real Stinker in Cinderella Man

Co-stars of Russell Crowe in the boxing epic Cinderella Man say the actor’s legendary commitment to authenticity came with an unexpected side effect during filming: a personal fragrance that was, in the words of one cast member, “bold enough to earn its own credit.”

Crowe, who portrays heavyweight boxer Jim Braddock, reportedly went several days at a time without showering in order to immerse himself in the world of a Depression-era fighter.

“Russell smelled like something that had survived two world tours before retiring to a trunk,” joked Paul Giamatti, who plays Braddock’s manager. “It got to the point where blocking a scene meant working out which direction the breeze was blowing.”

Renee Zellweger, who plays Braddock’s wife, said her emotional scenes came easily.
“I would brace for a close-up and think, ‘Renee, you can do this,’ and suddenly my eyes would water on their own. Where I come from, we say a surprise whiff can move the soul.”

Crowe defended his approach.
“A lot of actors want to get inside a character’s mind,” he explained. “I prefer to get inside the environment they carried around with them. A person’s scent tells you almost everything—diet, habits, lifestyle, ambition, regrets. Armpits are under-appreciated storytellers.”

He noted that Jim Braddock lived in hard times and worked any job he could find to keep his family afloat. “Smelling impeccable was not high on the list in 1932. Besides, deodorants were not exactly staging their golden age.”

Crowe then launched into an enthusiastic mini-lecture on the history of American deodorants.

“The first U.S. deodorant marketed as such was a little cream called Mum in 1888,” he said. “You applied it with your fingers. ‘Mum’s the word’ originally meant ‘keep it quiet under your arm.’ At least that is what the story claims.”

He went on.
“Solid stick deodorants showed up in the late 1940s. They worked, but they occasionally exfoliated more than strictly necessary. That led to the roll-on—modeled on the ballpoint pen. Aerosols came in the 1960s, but once people worried about the ozone layer, the market went back to sticks and roll-ons. Fast-forward and now we have powders, gels, hybrids, and products that smell like everything from alpine mornings to freshly laundered optimism.”

Despite his scholarly enthusiasm, Crowe’s presence on set could be… emphatic. Crew members good-naturedly referred to him as a “fragrance traditionalist.”

“He had a private gym trailer that was strictly off-limits,” one extra recalled. “At first we thought it was diva behavior. Later we realized he was trying to protect us.”

Zellweger agreed.
“He warned people not to go inside after a workout unless they had strong lungs or a head cold,” she said. “Once you got past the initial impact, though, he really was the sweetest guy.”

Paul Bettany, who has appeared with Crowe in both deodorant-era and pre-deodorant-era roles, noted the contrast.

“In A Beautiful Mind, he nailed the understated academic vibe—including a scent that suggested long nights with library books and institutional coffee,” Bettany said. “But during Master and Commander, those violin duets were heroic, considering we were essentially performing in a sealed wooden box with one very determined method actor.”

In other news, fellow Indianapolis 500 drivers suggested that rookie Danica Patrick might have climbed even higher in the standings if she had not spent quite so much time chatting with her crew about tire temperatures during the race.