Entertainment Movies Russell Crowe Denies Auditioning for 'My Best Friend's Wedding' After Director Claims Otherwise Director P.J. Hogan previously said in a book that Russell Crowe gave "one of the worst table reads I've ever experienced" for 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding By Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle is an editorial assistant on the Movies team at PEOPLE. Tommy joined PEOPLE in 2022. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 17, 2022 05:16PM EDT Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997); Russell Crowe. Photo: Tri-Star/Kobal/Shutterstock; Maria Moratti/Getty Russell Crowe is denying that he ever auditioned to star opposite Julia Roberts in 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding. On Friday, the Gladiator actor, 58, shared a Twitter post in which he wrote that an anecdote director P.J. Hogan shared in author Scott Meslow's book From Hollywood With Love was "pure imagination on behalf of this director." "I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned," Crowe wrote on Twitter. "Would be funny if it wasn't so pointless." Hogan's anecdote was first shared in an excerpt from the book published by Vulture in February, in which the director claimed Crowe's audition — a table read opposite Roberts herself — "was one of the worst table reads I've ever experienced." In the excerpt, Hogan admitted his first choice for the role of Michael in My Best Friend's Wedding was Crowe himself, who he said "was probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered" at that time. However, Roberts herself had final say over casting approval and "no one was getting in this movie if Julia didn't approve," according to the book. Julia Roberts Praises My Best Friend's Wedding 25 Years Later: 'We Really Got Lucky' Anthony Harvey/FilmMagic 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. "I don't know what went wrong," Hogan said in the book. "It was one of the worst table reads I've ever experienced. Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn't look at her once. He read every line in a monotone." "At one point, Julia was literally leaning over the table, staring, like, inches from Russell's face, trying to make eye contact. And he wouldn't look at her," Hogan added. "At the end of the reading, Russell came up to me and said, 'I thought that went pretty well.' And then I knew: Russell was not going to be in My Best Friend's Wedding." Reps for Hogan did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. RELATED VIDEO: Russell Crowe Credits Sharon Stone with Making Him a Hollywood Star: 'Got a Lot to Thank Her For' Dermot Mulroney ultimately played Michael in the film. The film follows Roberts' character Julianne as she discovers she's in love with her friend Michael. When Michael calls with news of an engagement, she fakes one to her friend George (Rupert Everett) out of desperation. Cameron Diaz stars as Kimmy, Michael's fiancée. In April, Roberts reflected on My Best Friend's Wedding's legacy during an interview with with E! Daily Pop while promoting her series Gaslit. "So many people have someone that they can see themselves as in the movie, and I also just think that we really got lucky coming together," she said. "None of us knew each other before we made the movie, and we just had a really great chemistry. It just worked. I mean, we all really liked each other."