Shadow boxer

Craig Bierko takes on Russell Crowe in "Cinderella Man."

By Suzanne Ely

Any sane guy might think twice about climbing into a boxing ring to take on Russell Crowe, the brawny star known for his share of offscreen brawls. Especially one who shares an ex-girlfriend (actress Meg Ryan) with the touchy Oscar winner.

Not Craig Bierko. The 40-year-old stage, screen and TV actor, whose rakish good looks call to mind an American Clive Owen, relished the challenge of locking fists with Crowe in "Cinderella Man," Hollywood's newest boxing saga, which opens next Friday. Bierko's brutal character battles Crowe's underdog hero for the heavyweight championship.

"My job was to make it look like I'm slowly trying to kill him," the Rye Brook, N.Y., native says over lunch at a Los Angeles hotel. He and Crowe were coached to deliver "loose" punches (a full swing that stops short of physical contact), Bierko says, but accidents do happen. Once, he says, Crowe put too much power behind a punch, walloping him "as hard as you can hit a person, right on my nose." Another time, he adds, Crowe actually encouraged him to throw a punch they hadn't practiced, and Bierko fired his gloved fist into Crowe's ribs. "I could tell when I was being toyed with," Bierko says, "and if it turned into something, I was ready."

Bierko and Crowe came to the Toronto movie set with an entangled history. Both had dated Ryan: Crowe in 2000, reportedly before her split that year from actor Dennis Quaid; Bierko in 2002. Although Bierko says he and Crowe never discussed their common past, he hints that his relationship with Crowe was filled with just enough friction to spark an onscreen rivalry. "I didn't talk to him, we weren't friends, and we had no intention of becoming friends," Bierko says intently.

None of the simmering tension Bierko describes seemed to bother "Cinderella" director Ron Howard. "Intuitively, everyone sensed that these guys didn't need to be pals to function professionally," Howard says.

Bierko, who earned a Tony nomination in 2000 for his starring role in "The Music Man," has spent much of his career relegated to the role of real-life boyfriend to the stars, thanks to a string of romances with actresses including (besides Ryan) Charlize Theron and Janeane Garofalo. This summer, he plans to keep a lower profile in a rented house in Nantucket, Mass., with his current girlfriend (a graduate student in social work), and actor Robert Sean Leonard and his fiancée.

"Life is funny," Bierko muses. "For a while I thought all I wanted was a booster rocket to gigantic fame. Now I don't have any illusions about this business. I'd rather be the Joker to Batman -- the type of actor who is always good but who is really there to make the star look good."