Screen hunk RUSSELL CROWE resorted to diet pills to shed weight for his latest movie - and he turned to ex-lover MELANIE GRIFFITHs for some advice.

Crowe had to slim down from his Gladiator physique to play the NOBEL PRIZE winning mathematician JOHN FORBES NASH JR in the upcoming movie BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001).

But instead of going on a diet, Crowe started taking fat- neutralizer pills made by LEAN ROUTINE, the company that manufactures the soy-based diet drink endorsed by Griffith.

Crowe also spends time working out in a customized trailer full of exercise equipment while on location in New York. The 48-foot-long 18 wheeler - called the Muscle Truck - holds $50,000 (£38,461) worth of equipment, including weight machines, a treadmill, a stationary bike and a rowing machine. (SVD/US/RP)

Source: WENN