"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.

“I’ve lit the fuse,” Scott said. “The ending of ‘Gladiator II’ is reminiscent of ‘The Godfather,’ with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?‘ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

Nearly 25 years later, 'Gladiator' director Ridley Scott revealed that Joaquin Phoenix almost backed out of his Oscar-nominated role.

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

Gladiator' was a "baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning," Ridley Scott said of how he and Joaquin Phoenix approached making the 2000 film

Gladiator director, Ridley Scott, revealed the rather tense exchange between Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix on set of the 2000 film.