Crowe disputed reports he had an awkward audition with Roberts for ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’
Russell Crowe shared that he never auditioned alongside Julia Roberts for the hit film “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” (Daniele Venturelli/Steve Granitz)
Russell Crowe hit the red carpet at the Rome Film Festival in Italy on Sunday, accompanied by his much younger girlfriend, 31-year-old Britney Theriot. Crowe is 58.
The New Zealand-born actor was there to promote his new film “Poker Face,” which he not only stars in, but also directed.
Crowe and Theriot went public with their relationship in 2020, two years after Crowe finalized his divorce from wife of 15 years, Danielle Spencer.
The duo was all smiles on the red carpet for the thriller, which also stars Liam Hemsworth and his sister-in-law, Elsa Pataky.
Theriot’s black pumps matched her boyfriend’s all-black ensemble.
Just days earlier, Crowe shut down claims from director P.J. Hogan that the actor had given a terrible audition with Julia Roberts for his 1997 flick, “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”
The claim first came out in February, when an excerpt of Scott Meslow’s book “From Hollywood With Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of Romantic Comedy” was published in Variety. Hogan was quoted as saying that Crowe gave “one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced.”
Hogan continued, “I don’t know what went wrong…Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once.”
Crowe did not say anything at the time, but on Friday, he went on the defensive, sharing to his Twitter a statement denying he ever auditioned for Hogan.
The Oscar winning actor wrote, “Pure imagination on behalf of this director. I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned.”
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer.