Crowe sworn to secrecy over kidnap plot

Russell Crowe hated the secrecy surrounding his 2001 Al-Qaida kidnap plot because he felt like Elvis Presley, turning up at the Academy Awards with a posse of bodyguards.

The Gladiator star was contacted by the FBI "in the middle of the night" and told of a plot to kidnap him and other leading Hollywood stars - but he was sworn to secrecy.

He recalls: "What are you supposed to do? The thing that really bothered me at the time was not being able to discuss it with people - to explain why I suddenly looked like Elvis Presley with 14 guys around me."