RUSSELL CROWE - CROWE OVERCAME BABY JITTERS WITH HOME VIDEO

New Zealand-born actor RUSSELL CROWE coped with the birth of his son CHARLIE by transforming himself into a maverick home movie director.

The GLADIATOR star's filming antics shocked his wife DANIELLE while she was in the throes of labour.

Crowe tells the American edition of GQ magazine, "Dani actually said to me the next day, 'You were f**king outrageous.' Whenever I sense that she's getting a little uncomfortable, my focus is on her, but I make sure I put the camera somewhere where it still gets a good two-shot.

"I've got cutaways. Anything interesting that's in the corridor, I've got a cutaway, too. I've got the feet of the nurse. She was wearing purple shoes. But, see, it was probably easier for me to deal with this huge thing that was happening by having this little thing to do, which was keep the video camera going.

"Plus, my wife has a record, an absolute record, of something that happened to her that she was not experiencing... It's a hell of a cool thing to watch."