At the time, the Hollywood actor had never heard of al-Qaida or its reclusive leader. But Osama bin Laden, it seems, knew all about Russell Crowe.

In one of the more unlikely terrorist plots, the Oscar winner has revealed that he was a kidnap target for the network, and that the FBI was so concerned about his safety that it gave him protection for four years.

The FBI told him that terrorists had devised a "cultural destabilisation plan" that involved seizing high-profile actors.

In an interview in the latest edition of Australian GQ, Crowe admits he was first approached about the plot in the months leading up to the Oscars in 2001.

"That was the first conversation in my life that I'd ever heard the phrase al-Qaida.

"And it was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers. It was about - and here's another little touch of irony - taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan." Crowe was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia.

When news of a kidnap plot leaked to the media, the FBI, unusually, insisted the threat was genuine, but the agency refused to say who made it, when it was made or why Crowe was the target.

During the early months of 2001, Crowe appeared at a string of film premieres and awards ceremonies flanked by undercover FBI agents.

When Crowe was promoting his film Proof of Life in London in February 2001, the FBI enlisted the help of Scotland Yard and detectives wearing dinner jackets guarded him in Leicester Square when he attended the premiere.

He was also flanked by undercover officers at the Bafta ceremony and the Golden Globes that same year. Crowe said the undercover agents were also around during the filming of A Beautiful Mind that year and, to a lesser extent, during the filming of Master and Commander in 2002.

He also employed his own private security detail, including a former Australian rugby league player, as a bodyguard.

However, Crowe remained unconvinced about the level of danger he was in. "I never fully understood what the fuck was going on," he told GQ.