New Zealand actor Russell Crowe has shaved his beard for the first time in five years. Photo / Getty Images
New Zealand actor Russell Crowe has shaved his beard for the first time in five years. Photo / Getty Images
Russell Crowe has debuted a bold new look - and you might not recognise him.
After five years of sporting a slick silver beard, the 59-year-old actor has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal he has completely shaved off his luscious beard locks, instead opting for a clean-shaven look.
He captioned the post, “The actor prepares #20. First shave since 2019.”
Russel Crowe has debuted a clean-shaven face for the first time since 2019. Photo / X (@russellcrowe)
Daily Mail has reported the surprise decision comes as the New Zealand-born actor prepares for two upcoming films, The Beast In Me, a MMA action film, and Nuremberg - a historical drama, in which he will play Nazi Hermann Göring.
The move caused a stir among fans with many using the social media platform to share their thoughts on the Australian-based actor’s new look.
“Wow, you look 20 years younger!” one person said with another writing, “Looks good! It’s nice to change it up and shave. You have a nice face it was hiding behind all that hair.”
A third person wrote, “20 years younger instantly!” while one questioned, “I want to know what movie you are about to make, clean shaven is good.”
It’s not the first time the actor has sported a cleanly shaven look for a role. In 2001 he starred alongside Jennifer Connelly as John Nash in A Beautiful Mind and had to have a completely bare face.
Speaking to People magazine, he explained he was in the middle of filming a scene where he had to jump on “rock-hard” ground, but instead of being cautious and checking whether the set was prepared with a landing pad, he went in with full force.
The result was two broken legs - something he didn’t realise until years later when he sought medical attention for “very strange pains” in his lower legs.
“We were shooting a big movie, so you just struggle through, but the last month of that job was very tricky. There were a number of weeks where even walking was a challenge.”
He told the news outlet, “Apparently I finished that movie with two broken legs. All for art. No cast, no splints, no painkillers, [I] just kept going to work and over time they healed themselves.”
