Robert Irwin Says He Understands Dad Steve Irwin Better Thanks to Late Zookeeper's Close Friend Russell Crowe (Exclusive) Desiree Anello, Scott HuverOctober 26, 2025 at 2:31 AM 0 Brendon Thorne/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Pool Insabato Rovaris/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Robert Irwin; Steve Irw...
- - Robert Irwin Says He Understands Dad Steve Irwin Better Thanks to Late Zookeeper's Close Friend Russell Crowe (Exclusive)
Desiree Anello, Scott HuverOctober 26, 2025 at 2:31 AM
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Brendon Thorne/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Pool Insabato Rovaris/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty
Robert Irwin; Steve Irwin; Russell Crowe -
Robert Irwin exclusively told PEOPLE that acotr Russell Crowe helps him keep memories of his late father, Steve Irwin, alive
"Some of the earliest memories of me with my dad were also with Russell," he tells PEOPLE of Crowe, a longtime family friend
The 21-year-old made an appearance at the Nuremberg screening at the AFI Fest alongside his mom, Terri Irwin
Robert Irwin and Russell Crowe share a bond that transcends friendship.
While supporting longtime family friend Crowe for his film, Nuremberg, at the 2025 AFI Fest, Robert, 21, exclusively told PEOPLE that Russell has helped him to keep his late father Steve Irwin's memory alive.
"I've known him for as long as I've been alive," Robert says of Russell, 61, at the Oct. 24 screening in California, alongside his mom, Terri Irwin. "I have some very early memories, actually. Some of the earliest memories of me with my dad were also with Russell, which is really special."
"I'm really grateful that I have someone in my life who ... he's actually been there to, in a way, keep my dad alive in my life," Robert adds of the Gladiator star. "He has so many stories to share of him and dad, and I feel like I build an even better picture of my dad when I'm around Russell."
Kevin Winter/Getty
Russell Crowe and Steve Irwin on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in 2003
Robert emphasized that Russell could provide an even broader perspective of his father than he could get from his own family members.
"Russell and dad were just great mates, so it's a different perspective than when you're hearing about your mom," he explains. "It's meaningful. He's someone that I look up to and has truly inspired me."
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While he has been spending much of his time competing on Dancing With the Stars alongside partner Witney Carson, Robert has also been thinking about his father, who died in 2006 at age 44 after being attacked by a stingray off the coast of Australia while filming an underwater documentary, in the process.
"We've been working hard and I've been sort of tapping into emotions that I haven't really gotten to share before — certainly not publicly," Robert said in an Oct. 12 TikTok video ahead of the show's "Dedication Night" episode, during which he dedicated a dance to his mom.
He continued, "I've been thinking a lot about my dad, I've been thinking a lot about the highs and the lows, the grief, the way my mom has helped me navigate that."
Following an emotional performance that brought the mother-son duo — along with much of the audience — to tears during the Oct. 14 episode, Robert went on to gush about how Terri, 61, has served as a role model for him.
"My mom exemplifies how to be strong. And I think so many people forget what strong means," Robert told PEOPLE that night. "You think strong is like steadfast, you show up, you just carry on, and everything's fine. That's not what strength is."
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Robert Irwin and Terri Irwin at the AFI Fest 2025
"True strength is being able to find and feel your own vulnerability, your own emotion, and use that to carry yourself and to hopefully try and help others and to create a community," he continued. "And my mom is just such a kind and vulnerable and strong and steadfast human being, and she teaches me every day what it is to put one foot in front of the other, even when it's so hard to do that."
Nuremberg — in which Crowe portrays Nazi leader Hermann Göring — arrives in theaters on Nov. 7.
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