The first picture of Russell Crowe in Darren Aronofsky's Noah has emerged online, Digital Spy said.

The image, released through USA Today, shows the Gladiator star sporting a beard as Noah.

The Biblical epic's supporting cast features Crowe's A Beautiful Mind co-star Jennifer Connelly as Noah's wife Naameh and Emma Watson as his adopted daughter Ila.

Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman star as his sons Shem and Ham.

Ray Winstone will play Noah's enemy Tubal-Cain.

Aronofsky recently tweeted a picture of the partially-constructed ark from the Noah set in Oyster Bay, New York.

"I dreamt about this since I was 13. And now it's a reality. Genesis 6:14," the Black Swan director wrote.

Noah is currently filming in New York and Iceland and will hit cinemas on March 28, 2014.