Hardened Hack Russell Crowe

But while his co-stars began to feel for reporters, Crowe - who has famously clashed with the media on several occasions - thinks journalists deserve everything they get.

"There is a crisis in serious journalism and it's been created by journalists," he said. "We've been trivialising news for at least a couple of decades.

"The desire for new information, which we could use in a very healthy way, has been replaced by supplying trivia. I mean really, who gives a sh*t about what's in the handbag of LeAnn Rimes?"

Crowe is famously opinionated - a trait that has earned him a reputation as a troublemaker.

Even Macdonald - who handpicked the actor for 'State of Play' - admits he found him difficult to work with.

"Russell is has a lot of strong opinions," he said. "He is very smart, and he has his own ideas a lot of the time about how his character should be. Sometimes that would be great.

"He has ideas about how he's going to do it, and it's hard sometimes to get him off that. He can be tough."

But Crowe disagrees: "People might say I'm uncompromising but really I am just a very straight-shooting man.

"If you look me in the eye and shake my hand I expect you to keep your end of the f***ing bargain. I do. It's simple."

Despite this assurance, McAdams' first encounter with Crowe left her shaking uncontrollably.

She said: "I was a little nervous to begin with. My first meeting was with both Russell and Helen Mirren at the same time. I admit I was a little shaky, a little nervous and my hands were even shaking when I shook Russell's hand.

"We really hit it off, so it kind of developed naturally. We had a bit of a disagreement during our first meeting, which was true to our characters, so it was kind of perfect.

"We both had opposing viewpoints and were very stubborn and wouldn't relent. I can't remember who said what, but we were having an argument about something our characters were going to have an argument about."

Affleck was more worried about meeting politicians than meeting his co-stars. The actor was desperate to speak to real-life congressmen while researching his character, but didn't think they'd have time for another Hollywood star.

He said: "I thought that the people in Congress would be a little bit reluctant. Too busy to have the time to have me show up and sniff around, stand in their office, or do anything.

"But most proved to be pretty open to it - especially because many of them feel like their profession hasn't been portrayed accurately in the past.

"There is a bias people have about Congress. They see this huge lumbering body that gives away money like the big sloppy Muppets. That wasn't what I saw. It was something much faster, much faster Muppets."

Muppets or not, Affleck found the power politicians have seductive.

"It was good just for a moment to feel the power in my hand," he said. "It was definitely fun to play a politician."

Affleck played his part so convincingly his co-star McAdams thinks he should run for office - she even offered to run his election campaign.

"I hope he does go into politics," she said. "I think he would be great. And I think he'd be a real asset to the country. I cannot vote in US elections because I'm Canadian, but I would vote for Ben if I could. I would wear a big 'Vote for Ben' sticker."

'State of Play' will be released in the UK on April 24.

By Kerry Coleman

Back to page 1