Russell Crowe Admits He's 'Slightly Jealous' About New 'Gladiator' Movie

The Oscar winner said 2000's Gladiator "changed my life"

Russell Crowe has feelings about the new Gladiator movie.

The Pope's Exorcist actor, 59, said he doesn't know much about the long-awaited sequel to director Ridley Scott's 2000 film Gladiator — but admitted he's "slightly jealous" about the project.

"Look, the only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know? Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life," Crowe told Collider.

"It's something that changed my life, really. It changed the way people regarded me and what I do for a living, and, you know, I've been very lucky to be involved in lots of big movies, but the legs on that film are incredible," continued Crowe, who won the Best Actor Oscar for the movie, which also won Best Picture.

He added, "You don't always get that kind of longevity with every film you do, so, it obviously holds a special place in my heart."

Related:Paul Mescal Admits He's 'Nervous' to Lead Gladiator Sequel: But It's 'Something I Feel Like I Can Do'

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Normal People star Paul Mescal, who earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor earlier this year for Aftersun, is set to star in the new Gladiator movie.

His character is reportedly the son of Gladiator's Lucilla (Connie Nielson) and villain Commodus' (Joaquin Phoenix) nephew who grows to idolize Maximus (Crowe) as he fights in Rome's gladiator rings.

Crowe said he doesn't know much about the sequel yet: "I don't really know where they're going to go with it. I'm sure that [there have] been things on [Scott's] mind for the last 24 years that he thinks he can probably do better or something. I think that's one of the positives about it, for sure, that it is Ridley. Because he's going to want to go back into that world and create something the same level of spectacle as the first one."

Last month, Crowe said on RTÉ Radio One's The Ryan Tubridy Show, according to IndieWire, "I'm sure at some point in time they'll want to ask me about something, but they haven't brought anything up in a while."

"It's an extension of the narrative, but it is long beyond Maximus's passing, so it doesn't really involve me at all. I hear that young fella Paul is a good dude and I wish him the best of luck with it," added Crowe. "I think where they're picking the story up from, a young Lucius, stepping into the role of emperor. I think that's a very smart idea within the world of the film that we created."

Crowe also said he had a "slight edge of jealousy" that other stars "get to have that experience that I had once."

"I don't want to dwell on it too much because it does take me back to a period of time when obviously I was significantly younger. And you know, the rose-colored glasses of that experience now are perfectly crystallized," he explained. "I look back on it and I loved every minute of it, and that wasn't actually the case at the time."

Crowe's new horror film The Pope's Exorcist is in theaters Friday.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.