In an unusual video posted on Instagram, a thickly bearded Russell Crowe absent-mindedly sings a hymn while grooming his impressive growth. The video was posted to his 600,000 followers.
The Academy Award-winning actor is usually very private about his faith, but he seems to have been moved to share this intimate moment. As Crowe goes through the daily chore of untangling his beard and hair, he croons a 19th-century hymn, “In the Sweet By-and-By”, by Joseph P. Webster.
The Christian post notes that Crowe converted to Christianity late in life, and was baptized in a church of his own design:
In 2007, Crowe, who had never been baptized, told the Men’s Journal that he was planning to be baptized in a Byzantine chapel he built on his ranch in Australia. “It is consecrated and everything,” he said. He added that his son, Charlie, was baptized in that very chapel and that he planned to be next alongside his other son, Tennyson. “I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man,” he went on to say of his beliefs. “There is something much bigger that drives us all. I’m willing to take that leap of faith.”
Before you start wondering if his beard is a sign that he’s just given up completely, we should note that Crowe, 54, has begun shooting a new film, The True History of the Kelly Gang, in which he will play infamous Australian Bushranger, Harry Power. From the picture of the real Power at Wikipedia, we can see the resemblance is striking.
And today we celebrate...