Russell Crowe casts his pals Elsa Pataky and Liam Hemsworth in his upcoming high-octane thriller Poker Face - set to be filmed in Sydney

Russell Crowe is currently working on his upcoming psychological thriller, Poker Face.

The 57-year-old actor, who is close friends with Chris Hemsworth, has kept his casting choices close to home, adding Chris' wife Elsa Pataky and his younger brother Liam Hemsworth to the film's cast. 

According to Saturday's Confidential, 'both the youngest Hemsworth and Pataky have quietly been added to the cast of the flick with Crowe.'  

Oscar-winning actor, Russell, who will direct as well as star in the film, has already has picked out several iconic locations for the film's set pieces, according to the Daily Telegraph.

At the time, the publication reported that one of the movie's sequences will feature a high speed car chase inside the Harbour Tunnel.  

Also being showcased in the film will be the $140 million penthouse atop James Packer's Crown Residences and 'a sprawling Point Piper mansion overlooking Sydney Harbour'.

The rest of the film will likely be shot at Moore Park's Fox Studios.

While the movie was originally set in Miami, Florida, Crowe has reportedly demanded the film be filmed and set in Sydney. 

The New Zealand born star wants 'to show people just how stunning and world-class Sydney is,' according to the newspaper's sources.  

According to Deadline, Poker Face tells the tale of a tech billionaire called Jake (played by Russell) who gathers his childhood friends to his estate for what turns into a high stakes game of poker.  

'Those friends have a love hate relationship with the host, a master game-player/planner, and he has concocted an elaborate scheme designed to bring a certain justice to all of them,' Deadline reports.  

'However, Jake finds himself re-thinking his strategy when his mansion is overtaken by a dangerous home invader whose previous jobs have all ended in murder and arson.'

Joining Crowe in the cast will be Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA, while his fellow Oscar winner Natalie Portman is 'circling a role'. 

Russell recently worked with Portman while filming a small part in her film Thor: Love and Thunder. 

Poker Face will mark the first time Crowe has stepped behind the camera since his 2014 directorial debut The Water Diviner.