The New Zealand-born, Australian-raised actor, 53, took Charles, 13, and Tennyson, 10, as his plus-one-and-two to the Australian premiere of his new film The Mummy with Tom Cruise on Monday night in Sydney and showed off his softer side when he told Fairfax Media he was "loving" the quality time he now has with them.

"I am pretty much spending most of the last year just being around for my kids and I am loving it now," he said.

Not ruling out retiring from acting fully, he added:

"I am not even really thinking of [retirement] at the moment. I am just thinking how much time I have left with my kids as kids. You can very clearly see adulthood dawning on both of them. It feels very important to be completely connected to them at the moment. Things are changing with them week to week. It's the right time to be in the right place.

"I have a few, little jobs that I have agreed to later in the year after footy season, so we will see after that [about retirement]," he said.

Crowe didn't watch the film ahead of the Australian premiere as he wanted to react to it with his boys, whom he has with ex-wife Danielle Spencer, 48.

"I purposely have not seen the film, because I want to watch it for the first time with them. I have seen bits and pieces but it's as fresh for me as it is for them," he said.

It was put to him that they might be afraid to see their father starring as the evil Dr. Jekyll in the Egyptian mythological action/horror film, but he explained: "They will be sitting right next to me, they will be fine. When it's me in the movie, it's a different thing for them you know, it's not as convincing because it's just dad."

While speaking with Fairfax Media, Cruise interrupted Crowe for a bear hug and to introduce himself to Charles and Tennyson, who both seemed thrilled to meet the Mission: Impossible star on a school night.

"I've heard a lot about you," Cruise could be heard telling the Crowes.

While Crowe was happy to open up about his children, notoriously private, father-of-three Cruise, 54, was keeping that card close to his chest.

When asked if he thought his youngest daughter Suri, 11, with his ex-wife Katie Holmes, 38, might have the acting gene like her famous parents, he responded: "You never know, you never know," refusing to elaborate further.

Holmes is the primary carer for Suri.

The staunch Scientologist also has two adopted children with ex-wife Nicole Kidman - Isabella, 24, and Connor, 22.

Crowe couldn't be drawn on whether retirement was nigh, but Cruise said he hopes to work until his dying day.

"For me, I just love making movies. I have been doing it my whole life. I am shooting Mission Impossible right now, I just left from France to be here today and while I was doing it, I was in post production on another film, one I have coming out in August called American Made and I am also prepping two other films, it's just what I do," he said.

Despite their extensive careers in acting, it was the first time Cruise and Crowe have ever worked together.

Crowe, who remains a close friend of Kidman's, said despite being first introduced 25 years ago by Kidman, they were waiting for the right project to collaborate on. Recalling their first encounter, he told Fairfax Media:

"We've known each other since 1992. We met - there will be a few names hitting the floor here - we were at a barbecue at Naomi Watts' house and Nicole Kidman, who was Tom's wife at the time, introduced me. She brought him over to where I was sitting. The most amazing thing was that I was talking to, at the time, the biggest movie star in the world, and he had been introduced to my films by his wife, so he was asking me questions, not the other way around. It was a pretty amazing experience and we have been friends ever since.

"When [The Mummy] came up, it felt like the right one."

Co-stars Algerian actor Sofia Boutella, 35, and English-born star Annabelle Wallis, 32, were also in attendance for the black carpet at The State Theatre.

The Mummy is in cinemas from June 8.