(Sept. 19, 1997) -- Three cops stand at the center of L.A. Confidential, the fabulous new detective saga adapted from James Ellroy's hard-boiled novel by director Curtis Hanson.

To play one of the cops, Hanson took no chances: He chose the much-respected recent Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. But to play the other two leads, Hanson chose relative unknowns, Russell Crowe, 33, and Guy Pearce, 27 -- from Australia, no less.

So why cast two Aussie actors with minimal U.S. track records to play quintessential American roles in a Los Angeles film noir?

"This picture works, to the degree that it does, because I was able to cast those two actors," says Hanson. "I wanted actors who would bring a clean slate to the film -- audiences have no history with them. Audiences have complicated emotional involvement with James Ellroy's characters. I wanted these actors to generate that."

Hanson confides that Warner Bros. tried to get him to ditch the little-known Australians in favor of two big Hollywood stars.

"But I said no, and because of my success with The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild, they let me make the movie I wanted to make."

Hanson and his actors talked about L.A. Confidential recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film had a gala screening and tied for the top prize as the favorite among the more than 700 journalists there.

Though both Crowe and Pearce have substantial reputations in Australia, they've only begun to be recognized in America. Presumably, that will change with their superb work in L.A. Confidential.

Crowe has co-starred in Romper Stomper, The Quick and the Dead and Virtuosity, while Pearce made a strong impression in the Australian drag comedy, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

"In Australia, I'm top of the pile. Here, I'm the parking lot valet," Crowe says, with a laugh. "I've made five movies before I had the chance to make a really good movie. My intentions were always good, but I only get the good roles when other actors are distracted."

The incredibly handsome Pearce says "Priscilla" gave him good exposure in America, but a drag comedy doesn't necessarily lead to a lot of other parts. "But since people have begun seeing L.A. Confidential, I've been getting film offers. It's just that I haven't seen anything I like yet."

Once Hanson had selected his young actors, he had to begin the process of turning the two 1990s Aussies into 1950s L.A. cops.

"I brought Russell and Guy to America seven weeks early, to work on accents and to get to know L.A. They each had a thousand questions," Hanson says. "I also put together 15 photographs of the L.A. of the period; crime scene photos, salacious covers of Confidential magazine, Robert Mitchum getting out of jail, etc.

"I also showed them LAPD training films from the period, and organized a mini-festival of Hollywood film noirs, like The Bad and the Beautiful, In a Lonely Place, Kiss Me Deadly, and The Line-up. I wanted them to get to the point that they could be true to the period, and then ignore it."

Crowe, in fact, discovered a prototype for what he wanted to convey as tough-cop Bud White. "It was Sterling Hayden. He had a certain manner and a telegraphed weight in everything he did. I watched him in The Killing. What a movie!"

Both men said the American accent wasn't particularly challenging, though Crowe kept a dialogue coach nearby to make sure he stayed on track. Ultimately, the only way people could tell the two stars were Australian was when they threw a party for the cast and crew.

"Guy and I flew in special stuff from Australia -- shark steaks, meat pies and, of course, Vegemite."