As Hollywood stars go, Russell Crowe is of the more opinionated variety. Just ask TV producer Malcolm Gerrie. So you could forgive Mark Lawson a little trepidation when he suggested to the actor that his accent in Robin Hood had "hints of Irish". The result: radio gold.
Lawson questioned Crowe for BBC Radio 4's Front Row. The Australian star was already in a bad mood after a book claimed he had refused to say one of the most famous lines in his Oscar-winning turn in Gladiator. It was about to get worse (hear for yourself 5 mins 45 seconds in).
Lawson: "The accent you've given him, there are hints to me of Irish but what were you thinking of in those terms?"
Crowe: "You've got dead ears mate. You've seriously got dead ears if you think that's an Irish accent."
Lawson: "Hints of ..."
Crowe: "Bollocks ... I'm a little dumbfounded you could possibly find any Irish in that character. That's kind of ridiculous. It's your show. Whatever."
Lawson: "You're going for northern English?"
Crowe: "No, I was going for an Italian, yeah. Missed it?"
Lawson: "The, erm ..."
Crowe: "<bleep>"
Lawson: "Anyway, the outlaw aspect of him must appeal to you ..."
Crowe: "I don't get the Irish thing brother, I don't get it at all ..."
Lawson's Radio 4 colleagues were so tickled by the exchange that they sent Today's Evan Davis to perfect his own Yorkshire twang with accents coach Andrew Jack. Apparently it's all about making the vowels "short and flat".
Davis, it has to be said, should probably stick with the day job, even though he declared: "It's sounding almost William Hague, already."
It turns out Crowe modelled his voice on Michael Parkinson. Only if he ever uses the phrase "Tell me about your new book/film/record" will we know if he truly nailed it.
