Russell Crowe has revealed he is “comfortable” in his own skin, and is happy to grow old gracefully.

The 50-year-old Gladiator star, who made headlines after claiming that women should play “age appropriate” roles, hinted he has no plans to get rid of his grey hair or his crow’s feet.

“To me, it would be embarrassing pretending that I’m still some young buck,” he said.

“I know so many actors, they would freak out going on a television show with all these grey hairs poking out. I haven’t had my eyes done or whatever. I am who I am – totally comfortable in my own skin.”

Russell, who makes his directorial debut with drama The Water Diviner, said he still has career goals to achieve.

“One of the benefits (of being an actor) is there’s always roles to play, whatever age you are. But it never gets less competitive and I think that’s where some people have a fundamental problem, where they’ve achieved a level of success,” he explained.

“Then that level of success should remain for the rest of their lives but that’s not reality. Success needs to be constantly nurtured otherwise it’s a memory of success. If success is important to you and somebody like me, I’m a very ambitious b*****d and I want to be working at the highest levels of the business and if you’re going to do that, that takes effort.”

Russell Crowe heads behind the camera (Entertainment One)
Russell Crowe heads behind the camera (Entertainment One)

As for directing, he said it felt “natural and easy”.

“It was such a natural, easy transition for me so I suppose it depends on how you approach the job in the first place… I’ve worked very luckily with some of the greatest visual artists that exist in the business so I’ve learned from the best,” he said.

“I learned on this very clearly that film is a relentless pursuit and you have to match the ask with an equally relentless energy.”

Russell also spoke out about his love for Twitter, which he uses to interact with his fans.

“That’s one of its great benefits, that in the immediate moment if someone’s lying about you, you can just say, ‘Hey that’s bulls**t.’ I think I’ve got 1.6 million followers at the moment so now you have 1.6 million soldiers for your perspective,” he said.

“You’ll quite often find under the brunt of the force of people who know the truth, c**p gets taken off those websites so fast and people just back down. It’s not the be all and end all but I also just enjoy the simple interaction on Twitter.”

(Entertainment One)
(Entertainment One)

He added: “I’ve been on it for quite some time… I understand its benefits and it’s got nothing to do with egotism and stuff. It’s actually got to do with simply communicating… I think it’s healthy to deglamorise what I do. I’ve always been that person that says you put me on a pedestal and I’ll find a way to torch that pedestal immediately.”

The Water Diviner opens in UK cinemas on April 3.