That was a headline that was never written.

But it nearly was, according to the star of "Gladiator."

Russell Crowe

In the upcoming issue of GQ magazine, the Australian-born actor tells, for the first time, the details of a broad terror plot by the Islamic terror network to kidnap Hollywood stars as part of a "cultural destabilization plan."

Crowe has revealed he was approached by the FBI in the months leading up to his Academy Award win for Gladiator in 2001 and warned, vaguely, of the threat: "That was the first (time) I'd ever heard the phrase al-Qaida.

As a result of the plot, detectives guarded the actor at the London premiere of "Proof Of Life" and FBI agents shadowed him at the Golden Globes. The FBI continued their protection through filming of "A Beautiful Mind" and "Master and Commander." He also hired his own private security guards.

"I never fully understood what ... was going on," he told GQ. "Suddenly, it looks like I think I'm ... Elvis Presley, because everywhere I go there are all these FBI guys around."

The original threat was received just before the Golden Globe awards Jan. 21, 2001 – where Crowe lost out to Tom Hanks for the top award before winning the Best Actor Oscar.

An FBI spokesman said at the time: "We received word of a possible kidnap attempt ... we regard this as a serious matter."

"We just arrived in Los Angeles, and we got contacted by the FBI, and they arrived at the hotel we were staying at, and they went through this big elaborate speech, telling us that for the whole time we were going to be in America, they were going to be around and part of life," Crowe recalled. "You know – oh, I shouldn't say things like this – I do wonder if it was some kind of PR thing to attract sympathy toward me, because it seemed very odd."

Crowe said when FBI agents intercepted him in Los Angeles to tell him of the plot, it was the first time he had heard of al-Qaida.

"It was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers," he explained. "And it was a destabilization plan. I don't think that I was the only person. But it was about – and here's another little touch of irony – it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural-destabilization plan.

Eventually, Crowe said, the FBI said the threat had passed or possibly been overstated in the first place.

"But they were serious about it," he said. "And what can you say? I mean, gee, there were a lot of man-hours spent doing that gig, so the least I can say is 'Thank you very much.'"

Crowe joked about what it would be like if he had been captured: "I think it was a bit odd. But I also thought, mate, if you want to kidnap me, you'd better bring a mouth gag. I'll be talking you out of the essential philosophies you believe in the first 24 hours, son. I might chew through the first one, too, so be prepared."