Sounds like quite the experience! Are you an actor yourself? Or was this a one-time thing?
I guess someone lighting his cigarette could be easily misinterpreted. Interesting to hear the real reason behind it. I respect him for singing the Canadian national anthem.
It was a brief thing - I figured with all the time between shots I could work on my art. Certainly not an actor.
RE: the cigarette deal; a few years ago I saw a picture of Ryan Reynolds on the set of Deadpool, with an assistant holding an umbrella over his head. Why? Are his Deadpool fingered gloves so crappy that holding an umbrella will wreck their continuity? Maybe they had blood on them, but they're pretty dark, so… I dunno. Anyways nobody complained about that. Most likely Crowe got flak because of the smoking itself.
I often forget how popular Toronto is for shooting movies!