"Gladiator" director Ridley Scott recently told The New York Times (via Entertainment Weekly) that Russell Crowe told Joaquin Phoenix he was being "terribly unprofessional" on set when Phoenix was getting cold feet and had to be convinced to stay on the movie.

Nearly 25 years later, 'Gladiator' director Ridley Scott revealed that Joaquin Phoenix almost backed out of his Oscar-nominated role.

It turns out that Joaquin Phoenix, who played the menacing Commodus, had moments of doubt and wanted to leave the production.

Joaquin Phoenix tried quitting “Gladiator” mid-shoot before being persuaded to stay by Ridley Scott, the director said in an interview published Thursday. Ahead of the film’s sequel, “Gladiator II,” Scott told the New York Times that Phoenix ...

Gladiator' was a "baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning," Ridley Scott said of how he and Joaquin Phoenix approached making the 2000 film

The Joker star was locked in to play the lead role in Todd Haynes’ untitled gay romance flick but abruptly quit just five days before cameras were to start rolling, per Variety. His decision to exit the film, which reportedly featured explicit sex scenes, left production in “peril,” insiders told the outlet.

Gladiator director Ridley Scott recently opened up about Joaquin Phoenix's terribly unprofessional attitude on set more than two decades after the film's release. In a recent interview with

Joaquin Phoenix nearly walked away from his iconic role as Commodus in Gladiator, director Ridley Scott recently revealed. During an interview with The New York Times, Scott recalled Phoenix