Russell Crowe hits back at claims he had bad audition for 90s rom-com

Russel Crowe has hit back at claims he had a bad audition for the role of one of the main characters in the 90s rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding.

Back in February this year, the director of the film, P.J. Hogan, said that Crowe auditioned to be Michael in My Best Friend's Wedding and it didn't exactly do to plan.

In an interview with Vulture, Hogan explained Crowe was 'probably the greatest actor I’ve ever met' and said he was his first choice for the role before auditioning.

Hogan even had a bit of history with the New Zealander as his wife, the writer-director Jocelyn Moorhouse, worked with Crowe on the 1991 film Proof.

To cast Crowe, Hogan had to convince Julia Roberts first, who would play Julianne Potter - Michael's best friend in the film.

Roberts had the first say on casting approval, so a great audition from Crowe may have swinged it in his favour.

However, Hogan said Crowe's audition was 'one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced' and alleged that Crowe read every line in a monotone voice.

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He said: "I don’t know what happened. He read every line steadily. At one point, Julia was literally leaning over the table, staring, like inches from Russell’s face, trying to make eye contact.

"And he won’t look at her. At the end of the reading, Russell came to me and said, ‘I think it’s going pretty well.’

"And then I knew: Russell wouldn’t be at My Best Friend’s Wedding."

But now, eight months later, Crowe has caught wind of the story and the comments made by the director, and has had some pretty strong words in response.

Taking to his Twitter account, he denied he even auditioned to be in My Best Friend's Wedding in the first place.

Abaca Press/Alamy Stock Photo

He tweeted: "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. Would be funny if it wasn’t so pointless."

The role of Michael O'Neal eventually went to American actor Dermot Mulroney, who has appeared in the likes of The Courier and The Moutain Between Us since.

The worldwide gross total for My Best Friend's Wedding was just shy of $300 million - making it a commercial success for its makers.

My Best Friend's Wedding also received multiple nominations including GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film.

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