Russell Crowe, Noah and meeting Pope Francis: 'Look I'm not Catholic, but I like this guy'
Pontiff megafan Crowe finally got his wish to meet the religious leader, and couldn't praise his holiness enough
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.He’s tweeted at him, sent him numerous messages and even turned up to mass at the Vatican.
But Noah star Russell Crowe’s dreams of meeting Pope Francis were finally realised, and he was more than a little charmed by the pontiff.
“Look I'm not Catholic and I've never felt any connection with any previous Pope, but I like this guy,” he told Good Morning America.
“I like what he says... He's changing the tone of the way you regard the Pope and I think it is a magnificent thing. I was very privileged and humbled to be in that environment.”
The fact the long-rumoured scheduled meeting actually went ahead as planned, Crowe said, stood as testament to who the religious leader is publicly.
“I think considering the controversy surrounding this movie, it would have been so easy for the Vatican to rescind that invitation and just let it be that way but the kindness to actually let that invitation stand though is consistent with who he has been.”
The film, in which Crowe plays the impressively bearded lead role of Noah, has received a barrage of criticism over the way director Darren Aronofsky has chosen to portray the characters.
And the actor wasn’t shy about sharing his feelings about the reaction to the movie so far.
'We've had probably over a year now of very harsh criticism from a bunch of people who have put their name and stamp on an opinion that's not even based on the movie or seeing the movie, just an assumption of what it could be or how bad it could be or how wrong it could be in their eyes,” he said.
“I think quite frankly [that] is bordering on absolute stupidity, because now, I think, people are seeing the movie and they're realizing how respectful it is and how potent it is.”
Instead, as is only his promotional duty to do so, he labels the feature-length a ‘work of art’.
“You come out of this movie and you want to talk, about our stewardship of the earth, our relationship to animals, what is spirituality, who am I in this world - all these fantastic subjects for conversation.
“Art that can do that for people is a wonderful thing.”
Noah will be shown in cinemas across the UK on 31 March 2014.
READ MORE:POPE FRANCIS DROPS THE C-BOMB DURING SERVICE
RUSSELL CROWE'S NOAH BANNED IN THE MIDDLE EAST
NOAH FACES DELUGE OF CRITICISM FROM RELIGIOUS GROUPS
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments