"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.

director Ridley Scott shared a memory of Phoenix getting on costar Russell Crowe's nerves on the set of the original sword-and-sandals blockbuster. "[Joaquin] was in his prince’s outfit saying, 'I can’t do it,'" Scott recalled, "I said, 'What?'

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.

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

Joaquin Phoenix tried quitting “Gladiator” mid-shoot before ... Scott recalled as his reaction. “And Russell [Crowe] said, ‘This is terribly unprofessional.’” Scott didn’t reveal exactly what he said to convince Phoenix to stay in the role ...

Director Ridley Scott reveals Joaquin Phoenix’s cold feet on Gladiator; Russell Crowe calls it ‘unprofessional

Oscar winning-actor Joaquin Phoenix, who played the villainous Roman emperor Commodus in the 2000 film“Gladiator”, was told

Joaquin Phoenix made his breakout performance in 2000’s Gladiator, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Nearly 25 years later, director Ridley Scott revealed that Phoenix nearly dropped out of the role of Commodus at the last minute,

Scott addressed the topic in a new interview with The New York Times, in which he was actually discussing Barry Keoghan, who had to drop out of Gladiator II. “Barry is one of the good ones, the same level as Joaquin Phoenix and Paul.

As he said he was planning to quit the project, Joaquin Phoenix was told he was being “unprofessional” by Russell Crowe on the set of ‘Gladiator’.