Russell Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival (June 30-July 8). The Oscar winning actor will also deploy his musical talent with his band Indoor Garden Party, which will perform at the festival’s opening night concert. The festival also revealed Friday that Johnny Depp would appear in its trailer, which will have its premiere at the opening ceremony.
Crowe, who was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia at an early age, began his acting career at the age of 6, working in TV and theater. In 1989, he started working in Australian films, with “The Crossing” (1990, dir. George Ogilvie), “Proof” (1991, dir. Jocelyn Moorhouse), and “Romper Stomper” (1992, dir. Geoffrey Wright). He won two Australian Academy Awards: supporting actor for “Proof” and best actor for “Romper Stomper.”
His first appearance in a U.S. film was alongside Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio in Sam Raimi’s 1995 western “The Quick and the Dead.” He earned critical and audience acclaim for his performance as Bud White in Curtis Hanson’s 1997 movie “L. A. Confidential.” Michael Mann’s 1999 pic “The Insider” brought his first nomination for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
In 2001, Crowe won the Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of the Roman general Maximus in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” (2000). The following year, he earned his third Oscar nomination, won his first Golden Globe, and the best actor BAFTA award for his role as the mathematical genius John Nash in Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” (2001).
Crowe earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Captain Aubrey in
Peter Weir’s adventure film “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2003), which won two Oscars from 10 nominations.
“Gladiator,” which took home five Oscars in total, marked the beginning of Crowe’s long-running collaboration with Scott, with whom he went on to shoot “A Good Year” (2006), “American Gangster” (2007), “Body of Lies” (2008), and “Robin Hood” (2010). He again worked with Howard on the sports biopic “Cinderella Man” (2005), where he played the boxer James J. Braddock.
Crowe has appeared in films spanning a variety of genres, from Tom Hooper’s musical “Les Misérables” (2012) to the war drama “The Water Diviner” (2014), which he also directed, the psychological drama “Fathers and Daughters” (2015, dir. Gabriele Muccino), comedy “The Nice Guys” (2016, dir. Shane Black), comic-book adaptation “Man of Steel” (2012, dir. Zack Snyder), and psychological thriller “Unhinged” (2020, dir. Derrick Borte).
He earned another Golden Globe for playing the lead role in “The Loudest Voice” (2019), a seven-part miniseries about the founder of Fox News, Roger Ailes.
His directorial debut, “The Water Diviner” (2014) won the Australian Academy award for best film.
In 2022, he directed and starred in the thriller “Poker Face.” He can currently be seen worldwide in the horror thriller “The Pope’s Exorcist” (2023, dir. Julius Avery).
Crowe has been performing music since the 1980s, when he recorded his first solo single “I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando.” From 1992, he appeared with the rock band Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts, with which he released three albums. In 2005, he began working with the Canadian musician Alan Doyle, recording their first single together, followed later by an album “My Hand, My Heart” in 2006, under the band’s name, The Ordinary Fear of God. In 2009 Crowe and Doyle started holding Indoor Garden Party concerts. In 2011, they released their third joint album, “The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III” on iTunes, and in 2017, as Indoor Garden Party, they released the album “The Musical,” which went to number one briefly on iTunes and Amazon. The album is on Spotify.
In a special screening celebrating Crowe’s achievements, Karlovy Vary will present a 20th anniversary screening of “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
This year’s festival trailer, which will have its premiere at the opening ceremony, stars actor Johnny Depp.
The trailers take a distinctive approach to honoring guests and award recipients from previous editions of the festival. The concept for the festival trailers, which present micro-stories showing their famous subjects’ connection with the event, was conceived by directors Ivan Zachariáš and Martin Krejčí.
Depp is the 18th person to appear in a trailer for the festival. It was directed by Zachariáš.
Depp was a guest of the festival in 2021, when he presented two films that he produced: the documentary “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan” (2020), and the drama “Minamata” (2020), in which he played the lead.
