Why, one of Dumile's most unlikely collaborators, at least indirectly. We're talking none other than (cue the dramatic musical swell) famed New Zealand actor and reformed bar-fight enthusiast Russell Crowe.
Before Crowe kept questionable tempo in 2012's Les Misérables, and did a funny, brass knuckles-wearing turn with Ryan Gosling in 2016's Nice Guys, he starred in 2000's Gladiator. Ridley Scott's epic historical drama featuring general-turned-slave Maximus Decimus Meridius (come on, you know the line: "Are you not entertained?!") won massive critic acclaim, garnered tons of love from audiences, and earned five Academy Awards (per Britannica), including one for Crowe for Best Actor. It was a breakout film for Joaquin Phoenix, as well, in the role of the mad emperor Commodus.
In the film, Maximus, sold into slavery, works his way up through the ranks of gladiators and arenas. One of the more famous hand-to-hand combat fights in the film features Crowe wearing a pretty bad*** mask. (There are plenty of reproductions available on Etsy.)
And in case you're glancing at those masks and wondering, "Hold up, these look familiar," you're right: That's MF Doom's mask. As OkayPlayer tells us, one of Doom's friends saw such a replica back when Gladiator came out. "... A friend of mine told me he saw this mask that would be perfect for the DOOM character. I trusted him, even though it was kinda expensive." To make a long story short, Dumile got the mask, tried it on, kitted it out, chromed it up, and boom: MF Doom's signature look was born.
Sadly, as Rolling Stone reported, we lost Dumile on Halloween, 2020. He was 49 years old. His wife, Jasmine, made the announcement via his Instagram account. No cause of death was given.
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