Russell Crowe has taken a step back in time to his earlier days. 1982 to be exact.

The 53-year-old star of movies like Gladiator and The Water Diviner posted these throwback photos on Twitter, with the hashtag cringe and the comment ‘What’s with New Romantic meets Bonanza?”

The images were part of a photoshoot when New Zealand born Crowe, aged 18 was looking for a music career, as Russ le Roq.

Publication Noted explained the images were from when Crowe hired Auckland photographer John Rykenberg to create the cover for his single ‘I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando’. Posing in a building site in Auckland, wearing a leather jacket and holding a cigarette, it’s a far cry to what Crowe looks like today.

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While he may have made more of a name for himself as a Hollywood A-lister, such as 2017 movie The Mummy with Tom Cruise, Crowe didn’t end his music aspirations in his teens.

He still performs in the bands 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and The Ordinary Fear of God, and now Indoor Garden Party.

If you are keen to listen to the sounds of Russ le Roq you can find them on Spotify.

If you prefer to see him on the big screen he is set to next appear alongside Nicole Kidman and Joel Edgerton in the movie Boy Erased. 

Have you listened to Russell Crowe perform as a musician? What do you think of his style in the photos?