Russell Crowe shows off transformation after shaving beard for first time in five years

‘Gladiator’ star says he hasn’t shaved his beard since 2019

Russell Crowe has debuted a fresh new look after shaving his facial hair for the first time in five years.

In a post shared to X, formerly Twitter, the 59-year-old Gladiator star showed off his clean shaven face with a selfie. “The actor prepares #20. First shave since 2019,” he captioned the post. Crowe appeared decades younger after shaving for the first time since 2019, as he sported a pair of black rimmed eyeglasses.

Many fans complimented the Les Miserables actor on his appearance in the replies, like one person who said: “Wow, you look 20 years younger!”

“20 years younger instantly!” another user agreed.

“Looks good! It’s nice to change it up and shave,” a third person said. “You have a nice face, it was hiding behind all that hair.”

In his post, the actor suggested he shaved his beard in preparation for a new movie role. In fact, the last time fans witnessed Crowe with a beard-free expression was in 2012, while he was promoting Les Miserables. He notably donned a fresh face while portraying mathematician John Nash in the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind.

Crowe most recently shocked his followers on X when he revealed that he’s supposedly related to Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat, who was the last man to be executed by beheading in England. The New Zealand born actor shared in a post that had been carrying out genealogical research into his own family tree when he made the discovery.

He explained that a relative on his father’s mother’s side, John “Jock” Fraser, arrived in New Zealand in 1841. He is believed to be a direct descendant of Simon Fraser.

“Look him up,” suggested Crowe. “He’s quite the character. The Old Fox they used to call him.”

“Seems his Machiavellian ways caught up to him at the age of 80, [and] he has a claim to infamy as the last man to have the head chopped off his living body in the Tower of London,” he continued. “His death even coined a phrase. Apparently, they set up temporary stands for the gentry to watch him die. One of these stands collapsed which resulted in the death of nine onlookers. Being told this just before he was put to death made him laugh. He was still laughing when the blade struck his neck, thereby ‘laughing his head off’. Fascinating.”

Fraser was sentenced to death for high treason in 1747 and died on Tower Hill after being held in the Tower of London.