http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/05/1068013261038.html

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2003-11-12/film/captain-courageous.php 

Captain Courageous

November 6, 2003

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe overcame both chronic sea sickness and a fear of heights to play a British Navy captain in his latest movie.

Father-to-be Crowe, 39, spent hours on the water, overcoming a fear of the sea which began when he was stranded in a drifting dinghy as a child.

And despite his fear of heights, he refused to use special effects or a safety harness when filming a scene in which he climbs a 50m mast.

Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World, set during the Napoleonic Wars.

The book is a loose adaptation of a novel by the late Patrick O'Brian, the first in a series featuring the characters of Aubrey and his fellow mariner, Dr Steven Maturin, and set in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Many scenes were filmed in a giant tank used in the movie Titanic.

But before he could play Aubrey Crowe had to overcome his twin fears and seasickness, he told Vanity Fair magazine.

"I've always thought that I was not very good on boats," he said.

"I was using travel sickness pills, but you can't be taking pills and doing lines on camera.

"So it was time to try and see if it was not a psychosis but something that could be addressed physically, by actually doing the miles on the water."

He explained the reasons behind his fear of the sea: "When I was a kid we went out on a boat and ran out of petrol."

He was "floating aimlessly for hours" before being rescued by a passing boat.

During his early teens he was on board a Russian cruise liner during a storm.

Passengers' sea sickness was so bad that the vessel was "like a hospital ship from the First World War. It was disgusting," Crowe said.

Crowe had a second phobia to conquer, his fear of heights, for a scene where he climbs a mast.

He said: "Look, I'm scared of heights, too, and I understand it's dangerous.

"But I'm going to do this. I'm going to do it without a safety rope, so if I fall, it's goodnight Irene."

He added: "You can't wrap yourself in cotton because you're an important entertainer. You're only entertaining people if you're servicing the character."

Crowe, who won an Oscar for his role as Maximus in the film Gladiator, also explained where his inspirations lie.

Rather than Mel Gibson, it was actress Judy Davis who inspired his Hollywood ambitions.

"People automatically assumed that it was either Mel Gibson, Bryan Brown or Jack Thompson, or whatever that made me go to America to pursue being an actor," he said.

"They would keep saying, 'Do you want to be the new Mel Gibson?' I said, 'No, I want to be the new Judy Davis'."

(Thanks to calrabbit for providing this article)