Russell Crowe has said he owes his Hollywood career to Sharon Stone after she helped him land a part in the 1995 film The Quick and the Dead.
The Oscar-winning actor, who starred alongside the 62-year-old actress in the hit Western movie, admits Stone's determination to cast him in the film gave him the stepping stone he needed to make it in Hollywood.
Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Crowe recalled: ''It took me probably about 18 months or more, and literally hundreds and hundreds of meetings, before I actually got an American gig.
"I only got it because Sharon Stone had seen a movie I was in.''
The 56-year-old actor explained how Stone, who also produced the popular movie won a ''sword fight'' against the male producers to cast him in the role of Cort, the love interest of her character The Lady.
''She was kind of in a sword fight with the male producers on the film. She just put her foot down and said, 'I'm going to hire the person I want to hire as the love interest.'
''If it wasn't for her strength of commitment, I don't know how long it might have been before I got an American movie. I've got a lot to thank her for.''
