Like me or lump me, says rocking Russ

Russell Crowe in Auckland yesterday. Picture / Greg Bowker

The Gladiator loves his pineapple lumps. He likes them "frozen, so they're chewier, but you've got to put them in your mouth for a little bit till they go from hard to chewy."

The Herald has given him this deciding test on whether he is an Australian or a New Zealander. Kiwis love pineapple lumps. Aussies hate them.

The bag sits on the chair for about ten minutes of the interview before Russell Crowe rips it open.

"They're staring at me. They're calling my name. In Australia, they try to recreate these a lot. They just can't do it."

The rule on Crowe's nationality has so far been flexible - throw a phone around and he's an Aussie. Win an Oscar for his role in Gladiator, or a BAFTA and Golden Globe for Beautiful Mind and he's Kiwi.

Crowe thinks this is amusing.

"I noticed that the other day. I read 'Kiwi Oscar winner' and I was, 'Right! Time to go play in New Zealand."

He likes the pineapple lump test. Says it's "very sophisticated".

He's promoting the New Zealand leg of his tour with his band The Ordinary Fear of God. The original eight-week tour of the US in November and December had since stretched out to six months.

"So I thought, if there's that type of momentum, it's time I went home and showed people what I'm about."

Tonight's concert at the Sawmill Cafe in Leigh is sold out, but there are still tickets for tomorrow night's concert at the 700-seat Sky City Theatre, and a show in Wellington.

Crowe acknowledges New Zealand doesn't really know his music.

"I'm not sure if anybody in New Zealand has even heard this album. We just did three shows in the United States and the people that come along are very knowledgeable and sing along and that sort of stuff. "

He said at the height of his acting career the band attracted bigger-than-expected audiences. But a lot of that was a "let's go look at the freak show" type of crowd.

His wife, Danielle Spencer, and son Charlie have joined him in New Zealand. They went for a walk down to the Viaduct and "there was a lot of 'hello Russell, welcome home'."

So is he a true Kiwi? Well, he can do a haka but it's "usually in some bar at 4 o'clock in the morning in Toronto or London, surrounded by other expats who have just met".

By now the pineapple lumps have disappeared. He can't take them because "my wife would kill me".

"I've secreted them away in your bag," he says. "In the middle of the night they will call to you ..." his voice rises to falsetto ... "I'm a little pineapple lump, come and love me."