EXCLUSIVE: Brutal Secrets of the Making of 'Gladiator' on 25th Anniversary of Epic Movie — From Script Battles and Rewrites to Death of Hollywood Icon During Filming
'Gladiator' was a cursed production before it became a hit.
June 16 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Director Ridley Scott's epic masterpiece Gladiator made leading man Russell Crowe an international superstar and gave him the only Best Actor Oscar of his career to date,RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Here are some of the dramatic secrets behind the making of the blockbuster, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of its 2000 release this year.
Producer Walter Parkes, right, got Ridley Scott, left, to sign up to a sequel despite the troubles with making the first 'Gladiator.'
Crowe, who cemented his status as a Hollywood hunk by playing tragic general turned gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius, was raring to snag the lead role in the film.
In a 2004 interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Crowe explained why, saying: "They said, 'It's a $100million film. You're being directed by Ridley Scott. You play a Roman general.' I've always been a big fan of Ridley's."
Crowe was so dedicated to the part, he shed 40 pounds for it.
But sources said he was initially unhappy with the script and feared it might hurt his budding career.
DreamWorks execs recalled how Crowe tried to rewrite 'Gladiator' on set in Morocco.
According to a DreamWorks studio executive, Russell "tried to rewrite the entire script on the spot. You know the big line in the trailer, 'In this life or the next, I will have my vengeance'? At first he absolutely refused to say it."
But the actor defended himself by saying: "I read the script, and it was substantially underdone. Even the character didn't exist on the pages. And that set about a long process – that's probably the first time that I've been in a situation where the script wasn't a complete done deal. We actually started shooting with about 32 pages and went through them in the first couple of weeks."
During his Actors Studio appearance he explained: "Possibly, a lot of the stuff that I have to deal with now in terms of my 'volatility' has to do with that experience.
"Here was a situation where we got to Morocco with a crew of 200 and a cast of 100 or whatever, and I didn't have anything to learn ... So then I'd be doing my own stuff, as well. And this is how things like 'Strength and Honor' came up. This is how things like 'At my signal, unleash hell' came up. The name Maximus Decimus Meridius, it just flowed well."
Though Crowe was fit and in his 30s at the time he shot the movie, he didn't escape injury and wound up with a cracked hip bone, a broken foot and torn Achilles tendons.
"If you're rolling around on the ground with gigantic sequences with hundreds of moves of choreography... of course there's going to be injuries," said Crowe, now 56. "But when you're younger, you're made of rubber and you can bounce back again."
Close Call
Crowe had a close call with real tigers during filming.
In the memorable scene where tigers are released from hidden pits during a gladiator bout, Crowe had a real-life scare.
Scott said: "You've got two guys on a chain with a ring in the floor to control (the trapdoor.)
"Russell said: 'OK, release (the tigers),' and when Russell would fall back the tiger would come out of the hole and Russell would roll out of the way. He said: 'F**k me, that was close.' And I said: 'We were there as well, Russell. You were two feet away. I was like four feet.'"
Though there were deaths on screen, the movie was rocked by one of the performers perishing off-screen.
Oliver Reed played gruff gladiator Antonius Proximo, but the 61-year-old Brit suffered a fatal heart attack during a break midway through the production.
Tragic Death
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Oliver Reed died mid-production but still earned a posthumous BAFTA nomination for his work.
Reed reportedly racked up a nearly $600 bar tab and challenged – and beat – five sailors at arm wrestling before collapsing and dying on the way to a hospital in Malta.
After the Women in Love star's death, his remaining scenes were completed using computer-generated imagery – but he was still posthumously nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Five years ago, Crowe said he happened to watch a showing of Gladiator at the Colosseum in Rome.
"It was an extremely humbling experience because I was seeing so much attention for that film," he recalled.
"But in reality, that film belongs to the filmmaker. That's the director's work. The performances across the board in that movie – Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou, Oliver Reed – it's incredible what Ridley brought out of people."
