Crowe in charge on set of film

Russell Crowe believes he will find it difficult to give up the authority he assumed for his role as Captain Jack Aubrey in Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World.

The film, based on Patrick O’Brian’s novels, was directed by Peter Weir.

“The status that Peter Weir has allowed me to have with the other actors has been so complete that on occasion Peter communicates something he wants them to do through me, which is great because it keeps that fantasy in place,” Crowe tells syndicated columnist Liz Smith.

“Every day I hear ‘Good morning, Captain,’ about 70 or 80 times. Actually, it’s going to be very hard to give up the uniform.”

Crowe, who won an Oscar for Gladiator, threw himself into strenuous research for the role.

The film’s sailing consultant, Andrew Reay-Ellers, told Smith: “Russell spent hours poring over diagrams, reading some very dense literature on ship-handling strategies.

“He rose to every challenge. He was also learning to play the violin and being schooled in this entirely different technique of sword fighting.

“It’s mind-boggling the amount of things he simultaneously learned.”