Sydney’s State Theatre was awash with A-list stars last night for the premiere of The Mummy.
But it was one guest in particular that really meant a lot to actor Russell Crowe – his ex-wife Danielle Spencer.
Danielle was in great spirits as she walked the red carpet at her ex-husband’s new film.
The former couple, who first met 26 years ago on the set of the 1990 Aussie film The Crossing, split in October 2012 after nine years of marriage and two sons.
The 48-year-old turned heads in a figure-hugging black dress with thigh-high splits. She finished off her look with a black pump and tousled beach waves.
While Russell stepped out in his trademark blazer and jeans combo.
It was a family affair for Russell and Danielle, whose 10-year-old son Tennyson was also in attendance.
Family is so important to Russell that he’s previously admitted his sons are the reason he doesn’t rush into new relationships.
“I have the responsibility of my two boys and I don’t want them thinking anything other than that their mum is the most perfect woman in the world,” he explained on The Graham Norton Show.
“I don’t want them to see me in another relationship with someone not their mother. It’s not something I need or want them to have to deal with at the moment,” he added.
The actor also seemed pretty excited when he spotted his co-star Annabelle Wallis, who is dating Coldplay rocker Chris Martin, on the red carpet.
Rusty planted a kiss on the 32-year-old’s neck but the move didn’t go down too well with the English beauty.
“Russell suddenly appeared behind her and starting kissing the back of her neck. She appeared startled and then moved away from him and into the theatre,” an onlooker explained.
Meanwhile Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise sung his co-star’s praises, saying it was a joy to finally work with Russell.
“I’ve known him for 100 years and when we were standing on set, I was like, ‘I cannot believe that we haven’t done this before.’ When he said he would play Doctor Jekyll I was so excited to see what he would do with that character and have the opportunity to finally work with him,” Tom explained to Fairfax.
“We’ve known each other since 1992. We met – there will be a few names hitting the floor here – we were at a barbecue at Naomi Watts’ house and Nicole Kidman, who was Tom’s wife at the time, introduced me. She brought him over to where I was sitting,” Russell revealed to Fairfax of their long-standing history.
“The most amazing thing was that I was talking to, at the time, the biggest movie star in the world, and he had been introduced to my films by his wife, so he was asking me questions, not the other way around. It was a pretty amazing experience and we have been friends ever since. When [The Mummy] came up, it felt like the right one.”
Tom touched down in Sydney for the premiere yesterday afternoon.
Although he’s only here for 48 hours, the 54-year-old made sure his first stop was a visit to Scientology’s Australasian headquarters in Lane Cove in Sydney’s north.
When asked if his daughter Suri with ex-wife Katie Holmes might follow in his footsteps with an acting career, the father-of-three replied: “You never know, you never know.”