Russell Crowe to play Bill Hicks?

Russell Crowe is looking forward to bonus time in Australia after the postponement of filming for his next project, Nottingham. Crowe’s latest project Nottingham has been postponed until at least March next year “because director Sir Ridley Scott wanted the leaves on the trees in England’s Sherwood Forest to be the right color”.

“More time in Australia is always a bonus,” Crowe said last week. “I have another project based on the life of comedian Bill Hicks, which is going from treatment to draft stage with Kiwi writer Mark Staufer.”

It is understood Crowe is considering playing the main role of Hicks — a controversial and brilliant American comedian who battled drug and alcohol abuse before dying from cancer at 32.

I’d love to see a movie about Bill Hicks. I just hope the movie is as brilliant as the man they are going to portray in it. Bill Hicks was one smart dude.  I definitely think Russell Crowe could pull off playing Hicks.  The only thing that I’m worried about is that Hicks passed away when he was only 32.  That would mean a movie based on his life would seeminly require a young guy to play the role – so it would have been better to have Russell Crowe play this role ten years ago.  However, I also think that the role requires an experienced actor to pull off Hicks’ genius, so hopefully makeup will make Crowe look young.