Fortunately for the Gladiator star, the Federal Bureau of Investigation got in touch with him in the nick of time, and warned him of the threat.

'That was the first [time] I'd ever heard the phrase Al Qaeda [Images]. 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 told GQ.

The story, which appears in this month's edition of the magazine, says the FBI approached Crowe before he won his Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator. Since then, Crowe has been under FBI protection, and also has his own private security set-up.