Russell Crowe moves into the director's chair

BEVERLY HILLS — Russell Crowe has been in training for this role for decades.

In The Water Diviner (in theaters Friday), Crowe stars as Joshua Connor, an Australian father who sets off for Turkey in search of his three lost sons who fought in the Battle of Gallipoli. The tale is loosely based on an almost 100-year-old letter found by co-screenwriter Andrew Anastasios that describes a mysterious father who sailed off in search of his son after World War I.

But on the ground, he's the man behind the camera, too. "I loved it," says Crowe of his first time in the director's chair. "There's just nothing at all that I've ever done creatively that's anywhere near as deeply satisfying. It's all encompassing."

A decade ago, Crowe had circled another project to direct, but let it pass. This time, he had much to prove with The Water Diviner, an ambitious epic without the net of studio coffers. Crowe lobbied internationally for funds and partners. Once he secured the project that spanned Istanbul and Australia, Crowe kept a surgeon-like focus.

"I get to my set and my actors are ready," he says. "My actors know their lines. My actors do not waste a single minute of the day."

Co-star Olga Kurylenko, who plays Ayshe, his Turkish love interest, says Crowe takes an uncanny interest in the minutiae of filmmaking.

"Some (directors) leave it to you and you do whatever you want (to prepare), but he kind of monitors everything," says the Ukrainian-born actress (and Quantum of Solace Bond girl), nothing how Crowe set her up with a Turkish tutor and would drop by her sessions.

She calls his style motivating. "He would even tell us how many times he would read every scene to get excellent at it. That was very precise: 'Keep rehearsing until you've reached this number.' "

Crowe is aware of his somewhat intense reputation. "I know sometimes when I talk about loving my job, people convert that into somehow taking myself too seriously. But if you've ever been with me on a set, and what all the films crews I've worked with know, is I will be doing something insane and making you laugh a split second before 'Action!' and then I'll be as serious as I need to be."

The Water Diviner took up three years of Crowe's life, requiring him to backpack the film, at times, on top of his starring roles. After production, for instance, he switched gears to promote Darren Aronofsky's Noah; last year, while portraying Amanda Seyfried's widowed father in Fathers and Daughters by day, he would head to an edit bay at night.

"I'd be doing my 12 hours on his set, then eight hours with the editor," Crowe says. "Get a little bit of sleep, back to set. That was pretty heavy for awhile."

But what does directing really mean, 15 years after Crowe starred in Gladiator? If the film succeeds, Crowe can write his own ticket — an attractive proposal at 51.

"It never gets less competitive" in Hollywood, he says, noting how industry heat can fade. "People don't talk about it, but that's true. … If you are not prepared to keep moving forward with it, then sure, it's going to get to a point where your success is simply a memory. Success requires constant nurturing."

But with The Water Diviner debuting worldwide and two films in the can, including 1970s-set detective thriller The Nice Guys with Ryan Gosling, "I know I can take six months at home," he says. "I can work on me. I can actually get to a normal routine. I can have a non-adrenalized life. I can eat properly. I can (physically) train for the joy of it."