Russell Crowe has been “on the hunt” to track down his Italian ancestors. The Oscar-winning actor has taken to social media to reveal that he's been trying to chart his family's heritage.

Russell, 59 - who was born in New Zealand, but has spent much of his life in Australia - wrote on X: "I’ve been on the hunt to track down my Italian forebears for quite some time. Folkloric family tales and misspelling had seen me travel on a number of wrong tracks.