Russell: I can’t believe what I used to crow

Russell Crowe never calls the shots.

The New Zealander’s performance skills have been praised by many, earning him an Academy Award for best actor in 2000’s Gladiator.

He has now made his directorial debut with film The Water Diviner, which he found a “big life risk”. If it’s successful, it means Russell will be able to helm movies in his home town and be there for his sons Tennyson, eight, and 11-year-old Charlie, who he has with ex-wife Danielle Spencer.

“People go: ‘You are a movie star – surely you can call those shots,’” he explained to British newspaper The Guardian. “But I am not that kind of an actor. I look for the role that excites me and work with whoever that director happens to be, wherever he wants to shoot the film.”

Russell, 50, began his career at a young age and his movie debut came in 1990’s Prisoners of the Sun.

Before making it big, the star was full of impatience and his outspoken nature at the time put him in the headlines with comments such as insisting he’d never “fake sincerity”.

“I look back on the things that came out of my mouth and I am floored by the audacity and confidence,” he recalled. “It took a long time… I would get close to things but never get stuff.”

Despite now being famous the world over, Russell’s family keep him down to earth. He often returns to his relatives' farm on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, where he’s still seen as just a regular guy.

“If it’s mum, she will call me Russ, if it’s my dad he will call me Rusty, if it’s my brother he will call me ‘a**ehole’,” he laughed. “[My horses] they only care if your touch is gentle when you brush them down, and if your voice is patient.”