Al Qaeda planned to kidnap Crowe

The New Zealand-born star revealed he was approached by the FBI in 2001 and warned that he was the target of a bizarre al-Qaeda plot to kidnap him at that year’s Golden Globe awards, under terrorist leader Osama bin Laden’s alleged plans for "cultural destabilisation".

"That was the first time I'd ever heard the phrase al Qaeda," Crowe said.

"It was about - and here's another little touch of irony - taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as sort of a cultural destabilisation plot."

Crowe was protected by the FBI on later film shoots and at events like the Golden Globe awards.

"I never fully understood what the fuck was going on," he said.

"Suddenly it looks like I think I'm fucking Elvis Presley, because everywhere I go there are all these FBI guys."

The actor said he initially thought the extra attention could have been part of a complex publicity plan to gain sympathy for him from the judges but he later realised the agents were serious. Tuxedo-clad secret service agents subsequently followed him to the Golden Globe awards.