• Hogan claims that he initially wanted to cast Crowe as the movie’s titular best friend opposite soon-to-be Oscar winner Julia Roberts in the excerpt from Scott Maslow’s book “From Hollywood with Love.”
• However, according to the filmmaker, Roberts had to give the nod before Crowe, who had been cast.
• So, it’s claimed, he organized a table read.

The Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has responded to a book extract that was published months ago but that only later came to his attention.

According to Deadline, director PJ Hogan claims that he initially wanted to cast Crowe as the movie’s titular best friend opposite soon-to-be Oscar winner Julia Roberts in the excerpt from Scott Maslow’s book “From Hollywood with Love.”

However, according to the filmmaker, Roberts had to give the nod before Crowe, who had been cast. So, it’s claimed, he organized a table read.

Hogan wrote in the book, “One of the worst table reads I’ve ever had, I should add. Julia sat across from Russell. He held the screenplay in his hands and focused only on it, without once turning to face her. He monotonously read each line. Julia attempted to make eye contact with Russell at one point by practically leaning over the table and staring at him from a few inches away. He refused to look at her either.”

“At the end of the reading, Russell came up to me and said, ‘I thought that went pretty well.’ And then I knew: Russell was not going to be in My Best Friend’s Wedding,” he added, reported Deadline.

In response to these allegations, Crowe tweeted that he did not recall it that way. In actuality, he has no recollection of it.

“Pure imagination on behalf of this director. I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned. Would be funny if it wasn’t so pointless,” he wrote.

Crowe has been busy in Rome, where, according to Deadline, he recently met with Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and accepted a plaque designating him as an “ambassador” for Rome globally.

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