Gladiator star Russell Crowe, 58, is back in Rome playing a priest

Maximus scooterus! Gladiator star Russell Crowe, 58, is back in Rome for new horror film The Pope’s Exorcist as he is pictured whizzing around the Italian capital on a Lambretta moped while dressed as a priest

He motored to the top of Hollywood’s A-list the last time he played a hero fighting evil in Rome.

Now Russell Crowe is aiming to scoot back to top billing – after riding a moped around the Eternal City for his latest role as a Vatican exorcist.

Bearded Crowe, 58, who is known for his hellraising past, wore a cassock but no helmet as he whizzed around the streets of the Italian capital.

Russell Crowe is aiming to scoot back to top billing – after riding a moped around the Eternal City for his latest role as a Vatican exorcist

The actor found fame as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 hit Gladiator

In his new movie, The Pope’s Exorcist, he plays Father Gabriele Amorth who is said to have cast out devils by performing more than 100,000 exorcisms

The actor found fame as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 hit Gladiator. In his new movie, The Pope’s Exorcist, he plays Father Gabriele Amorth who is said to have cast out devils by performing more than 100,000 exorcisms.

New Zealand-born Crowe rode around the Colosseum on a white and red Lambretta scooter – with a Ferrari logo – in aviator sunglasses and trainers.

After filming, he was joined by his US girlfriend Britney Theriot, 31, as they explored Rome on electric scooters.

Father-of-two Crowe, who divorced wife Danielle in 2018, has been dating former actress Miss Theriot since 2020.

They are said to have met while making movie Broken City in 2013. Last week he was joined on the set in Rome by his friend and English rugby league hero Sam Burgess who watched as Crowe got into character.

Crew members and make-up artists regularly came to his assistance, making sure his outfit looked right as well as brushing his hair and trimming his grey beard.

His portly look as the exorcist was a far cry from his Oscar- winning turn as muscular hero Maximus – a feared Roman general who becomes a slave and then a gladiator fighting in the Colosseum

His portly look as the exorcist was a far cry from his Oscar- winning turn as muscular hero Maximus – a feared Roman general who becomes a slave and then a gladiator fighting in the Colosseum.

The Pope’s Exorcist is said to draw on Father Amorth’s two autobiographies.

The priest – who died in 2016 at the age of 91, – was ordained in 1951. In 1986 he was asked to assist the chief exorcist in Rome, and was named as his successor in 1992.

It is claimed many thousands of his exorcisms were successful in banishing evil spirits.

The Pope’s Exorcist, which stars Franco Nero as the Pope and is directed by Australian Julius Avery, is due to be released next year.

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