‘I won’t be playing two roles in Nottingham. If I ever were to do that, I’d pick roles that were more diverse, say Tuck and Marion.’

– Russell Crowe

With Robin Hood set for release in 2010, Russell was once again embarking on a project with Ridley Scott. ‘It’s just come about naturally,’ he said. ‘We probably should have worked together again straight after Gladiator because we each knew then that we really enjoyed each other’s company and we enjoyed the way each other works.

‘But I suppose it’s not a usual thing and he went off and did his stuff and I went off and did mine. But after that cycle when he did those movies without me around, we just sat down one day and talked, and we both came to the conclusion that we liked being on set with each other, you know? I don’t want to disparage anybody else I’ve ever worked with, but I just really like the way he makes a film.

‘He has a great respect for the medium and how much it costs. He takes a very working-class attitude towards it and I appreciate that and I enjoy it too. I like to get to work and know we are going to achieve something every day.’

Russell originally signed on to play the Sheriff of Nottingham. The role, traditionally that of Robin Hood’s arch-enemy, was to be given a new twist that saw the Sherriff portrayed in a more positive light as he investigates a murder. Robin Hood was to be more of a fallen hero in this version of the familiar tale.

‘Part of the strength of the script was the simple idea of doing Robin Hood by making the Sheriff the good guy,’ said Ethan Reiff, who was to work on the script.

Speaking before shooting began, Scott told Empire: ‘I’ve already taken a walk in the woods and scouted out some locations. We’ve got Russell Crowe lined up to play the lead – he can do a really good English accent.’

Talking about the venture, Russell said, ‘The world doesn’t need a mundane version of Robin Hood. If we’re gonna do it, we’ve got to kick some serious butt. When the idea came up and they gave me this script, I said, “Look, I don’t like this. This doesn’t work. It’s not good enough.” So this has got to be the best one ever done, otherwise I should be doing something else.

‘I’m a big Robin Hood fan and have been since I was a little kid. We’ll have a look at the Hollywood mythology and how much of that is embedded in the psyche of people when they think of Robin Hood. I’ll tell you this – Richard the Lionheart won’t be bounding up in the last scene and saving the day. Richard was a bloke who only spoke French. And who only spent six months of his 10-year reign in England.’

At one point the movie’s title of Nottingham was axed. Russell said at the time, ‘I think it’s just going to be Robin Hood. There were lots of other ways of calling it and some different ideas. Prior to Christmas, the studio were talking about Nottingham as a title being well-known now, having been discussed for 18 months at the highest levels of press and marketing and stuff like that and it was a good – what they called a solid gold – name.

‘And the question came up: “But is it better than Robin Hood?” And everybody just shook their head and said, “No, it’s not.”’

Despite the legend of Robin Hood having been translated onto the big and small screen numerous times, the film’s producer Brian Grazer was convinced that the time was right for a reinvention.

‘Oddly, it’s a metaphor for today,’ Grazer says. ‘He’s trying to create equality in a world where there are a lot of injustices. He’s a crusader for the people, trying to reclaim some of the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy. That’s a universal theme.’

Talking about Crowe’s look in Robin Hood, he said, ‘He doesn’t have the old Robin Hood tights. He’s got armour. He’s very medieval. He looks, if anything, more like he did in Gladiator than anything we’re used to seeing with Robin Hood.’

In another interview, he added, ‘For every Robin Hood that has been made, there has never been a Robin Hood that could be. Everyone falls into the trap of, “Well, if you’re doing Robin Hood you have to do this or that…”

‘No, you don’t have to hit the same notes you can take the time period, you can take the core message and put a different take on it.

Russell had decided to grow his hair for the part, but with work on Body of Lies and then State of Play under way, he had do it while working on the two films. Eventually, however, he decided to cut it because it was like ‘walking around with a dead koala on your back’.

‘I just got sick of it,’ he added. ‘I made two movies working around the length of the hair – just for Robin Hood – and then, once we finally got the green light and I knew that I had to click into the work-outs seriously, it didn’t suit any more.’

Russell had to shed almost 50lb (23 kilos) for the part, using a gruelling exercise regime that saw him work out for three hours each day.

His Merry Men – Allan Doyle and Kevin Durand who play Allan A’Dale and Little John – visited Russell’s farm to exercise and bond. Scott Grimes, who plays Will Scarlett couldn’t make it because of scheduling difficulties on his TV show ER.

And bond they did; they would work out, jog, go bike riding and practise archery – a sport that Russell loved.

‘And then at night a lot of music, because that’s an important part of the story,” revealed Doyle.

Doyle apart, it was reunion of sorts for the Merry Men – both Grimes and Durand worked with Russell on Mystery, Alaska.

Talking to Empire, Russell insisted that this sort of bonding was important to the story.

‘What you get is a group of people completely connected to the movie that they are doing. The bonding that works for a sports team in real life is the same and is essential for a group of actors. I know these guys and I trust them and we have that connection, it’s a given.

‘You bring together people with a common cause and you work towards a certain level of personal effort and an ambition of excellence. Who knows if you get there, right? The variables are huge, but if you don’t start out trying to get that then you’re never going to get even close.’

He would also learn archery – something Russell threw himself into.

‘Man, I loved it. It’s great. I said to the guy who was teaching me, “I’m in love with the flight. I just love it when the arrow is released from the bow.” And he was like, “Well, it’s your sport then.”’

Working with Cate Blanchett was a thrill for Russell. ‘So far we have ridden horses together, seen off bad guys, got naked (partially), wallowed chin deep in mud, danced by firelight, attended a funeral and kissed. What can I say? It’s an interesting gig. I can’t talk highly enough of her skill and sense of humour. She is a wonderful partner in crime and now that we are under way, I can’t think of anyone else in this part.’

That comment wouldn’t have pleased Sienna Miller, who was originally attached to the part before being replaced by Blanchett. Speaking about her disappointment, she said generously, ‘If I had to make a choice between myself and Cate, then I’d choose her as well. Of course I was disappointed, but I am also big enough to know these things happen all the time in the film industry – it’s just that when they happen to me it’s news.’

Russell would later say, ‘I appreciate Cate’s artistry a lot but Sienna would have been wonderful in the role anyway.’

For Russell and Scott it was a chance to work in Surrey again, in the same English landscape that they had worked while shooting scenes for Gladiator.

‘It was crazy being back there,’ Russell said. ‘From the moment we turned into Fareham, it was like, “Yeah, here it is, this place where the big part of my public life began.” L.A. Confidential was great and it got me into sleazy nightclubs for free, but it didn’t really change my life. Gladiator changed my life completely.

‘On set, all day, people were asking, “What happened there?” and I was like “Well, that’s Marcus Aurelius’ tent, that’s where the encampment with the hospital was, that was Maximus’ tent, this is the archery line, that’s where I saw the bird…” It all came back to me, and they are great memories.’

When any great British tradition gets the Hollywood treatment, the domestic press take a keen interest – and always not in a good way. Robin Hood was no exception. Once filming had started, it seemed that something bad happening on set was an almost daily occurrence.

One such story suggested that Russell was banned from a Surrey pub because of his unruly behaviour – a ban, according to the landlord, that was repeated by other establishments nearby. Crowe’s manager, Grant Vanderberg, said, ‘The only truth to the whole thing is that he has been [to the pub]. He has been there four or five times with his kids. There is a playground in the back.’

Then thousands of pounds worth of camera equipment was also stolen when five hooded burglars made off with it. A crew member suffered neck injuries after he fell into a pit at Shepperton studios, and an actor was injured during a battle scene.

Some could be dismissed as fodder for a slow news day, but talks of a long-running feud between Russell and Scott during the production of Robin Hood were more surprising, especially considering their working history together.

After New York gossip column Page Six reported that studio bosses had had to fly to set to placate the pair, Russell was quick to explain their ‘passionate’ relationship. ‘Ridley and I have never made a secret of the way we work. We agree to disagree because in the calculation of both our opinions we create the best idea. There’s no yelling, no diva bullshit – we are doing our jobs to the best of our abilities and try to do something special every day.’

Universal’s chairman Marc Shmuger explained, ‘Ridley and Russell asked us to visit to see more than an hour of footage they’ve already shot, which was nothing short of spectacular. Russell and Ridley are working on their fifth film together and have one of the strongest and most collaborative working relationships. When it’s news that a studio chairman and a film’s producer [Brian Grazer] visit a production, it must be a very slow gossip day.’

Perhaps in a bid to distance himself from the deluge of bad press, stories of Russell’s generosity started to spring up. It was hardly subtle – stories of Russell donating thousands of pounds worth of goods to a charity shop, tipping bar staff £600 and even buying a crew member a car were reported to the press.

Denise Yarde, a boom mic operator on the film, was bought the car after her vehicle went up in flames on her way to work. She got annoyed at Crowe’s constant need to make light of the situation, and snapped, ‘Well, I suppose it’s OK for you Russell. You’ve probably never had to worry about finding £5,000 for a car.’ Hours later, she was stunned to find Russell handing her a large amount of cash, saying, ‘There you go. You can buy a £10,000 car now.’

He also arranged for a £60,000 battering ram prop used in the movie to be given to a Scottish battle re-enactment group.

Charlie Allan, the chief executive for the Clanranald Trust, had played a German warrior in Gladiator, and he and Russell have been friends ever since. He said, ‘When Russell asked me if I had approached production to ask for props from the set to take to our project, I said I hadn’t and Russell suggested I speak to Charles Schlissler, the executive producer.

‘So next morning we were standing on set waiting to get going and Russell arrived with a huge grin on his face, and tugging in an excited manner at my sleeve, asked me to come over with him to look at something. We stood at the top of the hill and he said “See that battering ram?”

‘Right there and then the penny dropped and I looked at him in disbelief and said, “You’re shittin’ me, man?” and he laughed and said, “It’s yours.”

Allan said about making the movie, ‘The atmosphere on Robin Hood was much different from Gladiator. The scenes and the rapidity of the pace of filming were amazing. There were lots of cameras and angles were being shot from several directions at once. There was a fun atmosphere too, serious but still fun. Two night shots in a row were delayed for a short time while Russell and the Merry Men gathered us all in and gave some eye-opening performances to the extras. The camera crews were clock watching but Russell was making sure everyone was happy and in good spirit. He is a great singer and has some great lyrics.’

Robin Hood is not only a first for Russell in terms of playing one of his childhood heroes, but he is one the film’s producers – a new role that has left him drained. Talking to Entertainment Tonight, he said, ‘Being a producer has changed the experience for me – it’s a lot more stressful. It’s natural for me to worry about things anyway, because I care about it, but now I have to officially care about things, even if I don’t care.

‘It’s been two years, it’s been a long haul – it actually should be one of those things where it’s the most fun job I’ve done for years but it isn’t. There’s a lot of stress involved, now that I’m learning, so I’m empathising more with the people I’ve worked with for years, like Ridley.’

Talking about the film, he said, ‘Robin Hood is a huge part of English-speaking people’s history, possibly the oldest living story in the English language. It’s a big job to reshape that in people’s minds, particularly when you have 100 years of cinema on top of all the books that came before that, but we’re giving it a go.’

He added, ‘The comparison between Robin Hood and Gladiator is no bad thing at all. We’ve done some things in this where we knowingly go into that territory. As Ridley has said, if you’re going to doff your cap to an influence, it’s OK if it’s your own. It’s been ten years. Other people have tried to do it and not come anywhere near, so I don’t have a problem doffing that cap.’