Which Russell Crowe Character Said That? Quiz

Answer: John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind"

Russell Crowe portrayed real-life mathematician John Nash in this film and his character says this quote in a bar after a blonde woman comes in with her friends. He's explaining to his classmates how each of them working solely in their own best interests and pursuing the same woman (as economist Adam Smith's theory states they should), is not actually best for every individual that makes up part of their group.

Answer: Inspector Javert in "Les Miserables"

As with most of "Les Miserables", this quote comes from a song ("Stars"). Russell Crowe plays Inspector Javert and he's vowing to never cease searching for the movie's protagonist, Jean Valjean, who has broken his parole conditions and is on the run.

Answer: Maximus in "Gladiator"

The film opens as the Roman troops are preparing to go into battle and, as the general in charge, Maximus says this quote to his fellow cavalrymen to help inspire and motivate them to give it their all in the battle to come. It's following this (successful) battle that emperor Marcus Aurelius tells Maximus that he'd like him to be his successor and transition the empire back to a republic once again.

Crowe won Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards for his performance as Maximus.

Answer: Ben Wade in "3:10 to Yuma"

Russell Crowe plays outlaw Ben Wade in this classic western. When he's arrested, a representative of South Pacific Railroad lists off the number of robberies Wade had committed (22), and the amount of money lost (over four hundred thousand plus the amount caused by delays to regular operations).

He says that his company wants to make an example of Wade and have him hanged in public. With this quip in response, Ben Wade effectively points out that it's all about money for the railroad, implying that they don't care at all about the human cost.

Answer: Jim Braddock in "Cinderella Man"

"Cinderella Man" tells the true story of Jim Braddock (played by Crowe), a retired boxer who returns to the ring in order to help makes ends meet during the Great Depression. After winning a match, Braddock chooses to give his relief money back to the government and when asked why in a press conference, he explains that he views the USA as a great country who will help a man financially when they're in trouble but since he's had some good fortune lately and no longer needs the relief money, he felt that he should return it.

Answer: Jeff Wigand in "The Insider"

In his Oscar-nominated role as Jeff Wigand, Crowe plays a research chemist who blows the whistle on the tobacco company he works for and the things they intentionally do to ensure members of the public become addicted to their products.

This quote comes from a back-and-forth with the journalist who interviewed him. The journalist wants to know every possible thing that Wigand has done in his life that the tobacco company could distort, exaggerate, and ultimately use to paint him as a habitual liar. This quote is Wigand's response.

Answer: Hando in "Romper Stomper"

In one of his earliest film roles, Crowe plays violent and deeply racist Hando in "Romper Stomper". This quote comes from a longer speech about why he relates to the German Nazi movement and Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf". In Hando's view, the Vietnamese immigrants brought to Australia as cheap labour by the rich and powerful, are 'the enemy' to his (white) race - something that he views as a core part of his identity.

Answer: Marshall Eamons in "Boy Erased"

Crowe plays preacher Marshall Eamons in "Boy Erased" whose son is outed as being gay. Following this revelation, Marshall asks his son this question but only after outlining the stakes: that his son would become homeless, church-less, and unemployed if the answer is 'no'.

Answer: Zeus in "Thor: Love and Thunder"

While attending a council of the Gods in Omnipotence City, Thor asks Russell Crowe's Zeus for his help in fighting Gorr, first by providing an army and then by lending him his thunderbolt. Zeus is disinclined to help, even though he admits to being scared, and encourages Thor to stay in the city where "anything goes".

Answer: Bud White in "L.A. Confidential"

While investigating the murder of a prostitute, Officer Bud White (played by Crowe) wants to learn more about her pimp, how he operates, how he met the victim, etc. He speaks with another of the pimp's 'employees' Lynn Bracken, and after she says that the policeman is different from most men because he didn't tell her she looked like movie star Veronica Lake within a minute, this quote is his somewhat flirty response.