Russell Crowe says he asked Jared Kushner for insight on how to play Roger Ailes

Crowe portrays late Fox News boss in ‘The Loudest Voice’

Russell Crowe says he sought Jared Kushner’s advice while preparing to portray Roger Ailes.

The actor, who plays the late Fox News boss in The Loudest Voice (based on Gabriel Sherman’s 2014 book The Loudest Voice in the Room), discussed the role with Nicole Kidman in a conversation for Variety.

Kidman recounted how Crowe compiled “all the information” he could find about Ailes as part of his preparation for the role, and asked him how he went about his research.

Crowe shared an anecdote about how he ran into Jared Kushner during Hugh Jackman’s 50th birthday party, which took place in New York in 2018.

“Ivanka [Trump] came in,” Crowe told Kidman.

“So that gave me the opportunity to have a very long conversation with Ivanka’s husband.

“And he had a very direct relationship with Roger over their presidential campaign. Phone calls every Sunday.

“So it gave me that contemporary insight that the book could not give me.”

When Kidman remarked she wasn’t aware the two had met during the party, Crowe laughed and replied: ”Well, nobody else was talking to him.”

The Loudest Voice, a seven-part miniseries, aired between June and August 2019 on Showtime.

It stars Seth MacFarlane, Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts, and more.