Actor Russell Crowe has lent his support to the Late Late Toy Show, following Ryan Tubridy's call-out to the children of Ireland ahead of this year’s edition of the programme.
The Gladiator star retweeted The Late Late Show’s call for applications for this year’s toy fest, and added: "Doesn’t matter where you’re from, if you have a kind soul and an open heart you’ll appreciate how wonderful this tradition from Ireland is. The #latelatetoyshow looking for toy testers!!"
Host Tubridy issued the call out on Monday, inviting children from all over Ireland who would love to appear live on air at the end of November for the annual fun-filled festive extravaganza.
Launching the opening of application lines, Ryan told listeners of The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 that the team wants every child with an interest in the show to apply.
"We want to get as many applications in as possible," he said.
"Normally we open the floodgates in September, but we are opening the floodgates now.
Doesn't matter where you’re from, if you have a kind soul and an open heart you’ll appreciate how wonderful this tradition from Ireland is.
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) August 10, 2020
The #latelatetoyshow looking for toy testers !! https://t.co/np81ibqhxb
"If you want to be on the Toy Show, if you are a child and you think 'I can sing I can dance, I can do mimicry, I can do magic, I am the chosen one in the entertainment world', get in touch.
"You don't have to be an extrovert, you don't have to be beautiful, well, you have to be beautiful inside . . .
"You can be introverted, extroverted, upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside, it doesn't matter, all you have to do is be a child. Before you know it, you can be talking to our elves, and you could be on The Late Late Toy Show."
The Late Late Toy Show is calling on all children across Ireland with any interest in appearing on the show to get in touch and submit their audition tapes by going to www.rte.ie/latelate.
Gladiator star Crowe made a memorable appearance on The Late Late Show when he performed with the Late Late band last year.
More recently, the actor lent his support to musician and Late Late band leader Jim Sheridan’s remotely-produced Les Miserables duet between Crowe and Jeff Leyton.
Crowe famously played Javert in the 2012 big screen version of Les Miserables and Leyton is a musical theatre star, who has played Valjean on stage over 3,600 times, by far the most of any actor.
