Russell Crowe was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Monday, just weeks before the release of his latest film epic, Robin Hood.
"It's not the first time they've asked," Crowe said of the Hollywood honour. "I've turned it down a number of times before 'cos I didn't think I'd done enough. But now, when it came up, I looked at it, and you know what?"
At his request, the star is as close as possible to the legendary actor Marlon Brando's - though not that close.
"His is way down there near a convenience store I used to buy ice creams from," Crowe said, pointing into the distance. "I wanted to be down there, but long ago they filled up the area around him."
Avatar's Sam Worthington, Jay Leno and director-producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer joined more than 500 hundred screaming fans, some wearing South Sydney Rabbitoh jumpers and hats and waving Australian flags, for the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard.
Now 46, Crowe began his career with a role in 1990's Blood Oath, and has since earned three Academy Award nominations, winning the Oscar for best actor in 2001 for Gladiator. For the first time in his career, Crowe will also be credited as co-producer on Robin Hood alongside Brian Grazer and the legendary Ridley Scott.
He is so proud of the film that Crowe said it was the first of his many movies that he would allow his sons, Charlie and Tennyson, to watch.
"I think it would be confusing for them to see me in films, just as it is confusing for them to see people stop me on the street and ask for autographs. But I want them to see this one," Crowe said.
"Robin's really normal (but he can do great things.) He is not a superhero. He doesn't have a cape. He's normal. He's just a bloke. But he's a man who's seen a lot of things and understands how it all works."
