Russell Crowe Reveals He’s “Fallen In Love” With Most of The Horses He’s Worked With

Leave it to Russell Crowe to make this week interesting. On Monday night, Crowe weighed in on a story about a horse recognizing Liam Neeson from a previous film, saying that it’s apparently incredibly common for horses and actors to bond on set. In a string of tweets, the actor explained that he’s “fallen in love” with many of the horses he’s worked with, including those in Gladiator, Robin Hood, Les Mis, and more.

Crowe’s horse love kicked off with a quote from Neeson, who told Page Six that the horse in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs identified him from another movie. “The horse who pulls my wagon knew me,” said Neeson. “He actually remembered me from another Western we made a while back … He whinnied when he saw me. And pawed the ground.” What else could a whinny and a paw mean other than “Hey, what’s up, my man” in horse speak?

Writer Anne T. Donahue retweeted Page Six’s report, pushing it into Crowe’s timeline, and he stepped in to defend Neeson’s honor (stay tuned for Taken 4, coming to a theater near you the weekend of the Kentucky Derby). “This is absolutely true,” he tweeted. “There’s a horse George who I gave the speech in the forest in Gladiator on. Years later he was on the set of Robin Hood and we would chat everyday. Same with the white horse Rusty in Robin Hood we chatted again on Les Mis. Lifelong friends.” Lifelong friends, indeed!

Crowe could have stopped there, but thank god he didn’t. The actor then began replying to fans in the thread and insisting that his horse love was, indeed, very real. “I’ve fallen in love with most of the horses I’ve worked with,” he replied to one fan. “It takes a certain temperament to be a great movie horse, but believe me they know when it’s show time and that they are in show biz.” Another fan posted a picture of a white horse, asking if this is the infamous Rusty. “No. That’s from @WaterDivinerANZ [Crowe’s 2014 film The Water Diviner] pre production,” he said. “You are a horse Jase. Or, half a horse at least,” Crowe told another.

Perhaps Donahue said it best: the natural passion between man and horse really is “the love story our generation deserves.”