Hollywood superstar Russell Crowe has made his first visit to Scotland and it won’t be his last.
The New Zealand-born Oscar winner spent much of Sunday morning in DunCarron medieval fort the ambitious brainchild of Kincardine’s Clanranald Trust.
He has been a huge supporter of the trust since meeting chief executive Charlie Allan on the set of Gladiator in 1999. The two men, who share a love of motorbikes and may have a closer historical connection than first thought, immediately struck up a close friendship.
As Crowe told The Courier, “The first time I saw him he was standing with a severed head in his hands, yelling abuse at me, so he caught my attention. I thought to myself ‘I should go meet that bloke’.”
Charlie who also heads Combat International, an offshoot of the Clanranald Trust, which provides combat and stunt performers for films such as Gladiator and Robin Hood told him about his dream of creating a replica medieval village in the hills and forests of the Carron Valley.
In 1994 he had a vision of creating a living, breathing museum, accessible to all, with fully interactive exhibits which would teach visitors of all ages about Scotland’s rich past. His enthusiasm caught Crowe’s imagination, and the friendship forged on the set of the Roman epic has gathered pace over the years.
With the trust raising funds for the venture by supplying trained Combat International teams to the film industry, their paths have crossed over the years, most recently on Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. Crowe even arranged for the trust to receive a £60,000 giant battering ram, dubbed Rosie on set, that will form a centrepiece of DunCarron to welcome its first paying visitors next year.
He has kept spreading the word about the Scottish project and recently tweeted First Minister Alex Salmond and others in the SNP cabinet to back the “awesome” initiative.
That message was pressed home by the Australia-based actor while standing in the inner palisade of the fortified village, surrounded by over 4200 towering larch logs.
Crowe said, “The main thing I am hoping to get out of this is a little bit of governmental attention. The team here have done the really hard work they have broken the back of it. I think what they need is some acknowledgement of the asset this will be.”
Making his first trip to Scotland, he said he was impressed with the scale of the project, which will also be used as a film set when completed.
Crowe said, “I have heard all the stories over time of the effort which has gone into it and the many hours spent working on it while we gathered on film sets. But to stand here today and see the 4000-odd logs in place is so impressive.”
The actor said DunCarron would be a fantastic asset for the area economically as well as culturally, and would engage future generations of Scottish children in their history.
“Just imagine them coming and walking through living history and seeing big hairy men standing up there on the hill…”
Pledging to return, Crowe revealed that Charlie and his wife Malin have helped him dig around his Scottish ancestors and may have a link with Fife as his mother is a Wemyss. Still investigating his Celtic roots, he said the mystery deepened when she was told as a little girl that her tartan wasn’t Wemyss but Black Watch.
The trust was delighted to finally welcome Crowe to DunCarron.
Charlie said, “I am really pleased that someone as busy as Russell could make the time to come and visit myself and the fort.”
All photos David Wardle Photography.