Antipodean hunk Russell Crowe has sailed home to Sydney with his new blockbuster Master & Commander.
The 39-year-old plays an English Naval captain in the flick, but is was very much an Australian affair as he and his heavily pregnant wife Danielle Spencer turned out for the glitzy screening.
"Before we started the film I was never much of a sailor," said the Oscar-winning actor. "I've grown up in two harbour cities, Sydney and Auckland, so I've been on a lot of pleasure craft over the years – ferries and tugboats. But I always thought in the back of my mind that I had seasickness.
"But after spending time on boats for this movie I basically overcame it. I realised halfway back from Conway's Reef, when the boat was pitching and rolling and the waves were braking on the second storey, that it wasn't bothering me any more."
Tackling the high seas wasn't the toughest part of making the film, however. Because his character, Captain Jack Aubrey, was a passionate violinist, and Russ had to learn to play the delicate instrument.
"She's a very harsh mistress, the violin," he said. "More than tiger fights, helicopter stunts or gun fights – nothing has been more difficult than learning to play the violin. But I made a pact with myself that I couldn't pretend – I had to be able to make a beautiful sound come out of the instrument."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
