Russell Crowe took a decade to answer his fanmail

He told the Heroes issue of Britain's GQ magazine: "There [was] a period of time on the farm where our mail would come once every two weeks, but it was a sack. It took years and years [to go through it].

"Every time I went home, I'd tell my niece. 'Just put a pile that I can handle on my desk.'

"So I'd just do a little bit, she sends them off. Some of those people must be getting their s*** a decade after they sent it.

"And over time, I've now got back to balance. So now I'm only signing what's just recently arrived."

The 60-year-old actor - who has sons Charles, 20, and Tennyson, 17, with ex-wife Danielle Spencer - insisted he isn't ready to write an autobiography just yet because he always finds the early lives of stars more interesting than when they find success, and he's still too "young" to tell those stories.

He laughed: "To me, when I read an autobiography, once the lights start flashing, and the awards start coming in, the money's rolling in, I'm out of the story. I want to know the early stuff.

"I think you've got to be in a certain place to do that.

"And I'm still young enough that those stories aren't ready to be told.

"There's still too many people alive who are quite litigious. So let's wait a while."

Despite his many career successes, Russell regrets passing the opportunity to play one of his favourite musicians in a biopic, but felt he'd be "cheating" in terms of his secondary path as a musician if he took on the role.

He explained: "There was an experience that I was offered - I now know the director, and I know that him and I working together, surrounded by music, would've been a fantastic experience.

"It was a biopic of a musician that I love.

"I kind of felt there was a cheating aspect to it, you know. It would put me in a position from a music career perspective that I wouldn't have earned."

The Heroes Issue of British GQ is now available via digital download and on newsstands. Visit www.gqheroes.com for more.