Daily Mail UK

Always in the limelight, he is finally learning to be comfortable with the constant scrutiny of it.
"You get used to it," he shrugs.

"I suppose, when I was a little younger, a little more idealistic, I used to get more uptight about some things that I can let go of now.

You do question your sanity sometimes, because no one prepares you for this sort of life. When you are learning to be an actor, they say, "Here's how to get in touch with yourself emotionally, here's how to listen for accents, here's how to do funny walks", and so on. But no one tells you how to prepare for bunches of people chasing you down the street, or staking out your house and going through your rubbish.

That's not in any plan.

Still, I can tell you, I don't think there is any other job that would suit my personality better than the one I am doing, and I know I'm fortunate to be able to do it".

Five years ago he was living the life of a workaholic bachelor, on the road for 11 months out of 12, moving from hotel room to airport to movie trailer, and holing up in between in his beloved Beacon Hill farm-560 acres of land set deep in the Australian bush.

Then, quite suddenly, all that changed in December 2002.

He announced his engagement to to Danielle, after 12 years of an on-off relationship, and they married four months later.

The celebrations at the farm lasted nearly a week.

Now, the globetrotting over and done with, the family base has moved from the bush, to a fashionable area of Sydney.

"My wife is not a farm person," he says dryly, of Danielle- and when he is not making movies, he is happily holding down what he describes as "basically an office job", as part owner of the rugby team South Sydney Rabbitohs.

"The club has been in existence since 1908", he says proudly.

"It's the team I've followed since I was a kid, and the last time they won an a competition was back in 1971 when I was 7.

The last time they made the National Rugby League finals was in 1989, which was a very long time ago, because I was a novice movie actor then, and I'm a crusty old veteran now. Anyway, 18 months ago, a friend Peter Holmes a Court and I took over the team.

This is the first season we've been in control and we've already broken the 18 year drought and made the finals again.

People are starting to believe in the team once more.

It's been a very positive experience, very eye-opening, very maturing"

He pauses, "And not to undersell the team or anything, but one of the best things about it was that I got to spend 9 months at home with my children, which was a very good thing".

And so he returns to the subject that has taken over his life, his children.

"They are magical little creatures", he says in open delight.

"We do a lot together", That's the good bit about Charlie growing up a little bit- the not-so-good bit is that he's a little bit larger now, and when he whacks me it really hurts".

It was horseplay with Charlie that gave Crowe a cut on his face recently.

When he appeared in public with it, some people assumed the worst, so he was quick to explain that he'd been the victim of nothing more that a spot of domestic violence doled out by an exuberant nearly 4 year old.

Not, that he is quick to add, that little Charlie is anything but affectionate.

"We saw some of his godparents the other day."we don't see them all that often, because as a family we have such a transient, gypsy lifestyle.but Charlie knows his godparents are important in his life and I saw him hug his godfather with real abandon.

I looked at him and thought, if he can be that affectionate, then I am doing o.k. as a parent so far."

He says the basis for his happy marriage comes from observing the relationship enjoyed by his parents, Jocelyn and Alex Crowe, who live on and manage his farm.

"They are the template for me.

They've been married for more than 45  years and seeing them together was probably the reason why I waited as long as I did to get married, because I absolutely wanted to be sure I only did it once, just like they did.

My Dad in particular is a great example to me.

We've always had a great relationship and I've always respected him for fighting for his family even when times were tough.

These days because of my work, I am able to give him things that he would never have expected to come into his life when he was a young man, which is a great joy to me".

Speaking of work, there seems to be plenty of it around for Crowe.

In the new film American Gangster, the true story of 1970's Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington, he plays Richie Roberts, the detective who brought down the  drug empire.