The actor on his looks, having a life outside movies, and getting heckled
THE smoothly virile and devilishly handsome actor Clive Owen, 47, is known for his broody, smouldering glances and way of manning a gun onscreen. He made his name in British TV prime-time crime drama Chancer playing the waggish Stephen Crane.
It wasn't until eight years later that he finally came to Hollywood's attention, following his performance in Croupier, in which he played an aspiring South African writer turned blackjack dealer. His CV is littered with elegant performances on both screen and stage.
He was born in Coventry but lives in London with his two daughters and wife, actress Sarah-Jane Fenton, whom he met while she was playing Juliet on stage to his star-cross'd Romeo.
His latest film is the SAS thriller, Killer Elite.
I'm not known for my light and charming roles. I have an appetite for dark roles such as Spike in Killer Elite. I don't find going to uncomfortable places to be uncomfortable. It is important I stay interested in my work and don't cop out.
I don't want to do work that shows family life in a warm, cosy bubble. Real families are volatile. I know mine is. Parenting is a huge part of my life.
I've always enjoyed being a hands-on father and own up to doing the washing up when I'm home.
Actors can make a huge mistake by wanting to play heroic roles. I'd much rather people relate to me in a role rather than like me as a screen hero.
I never worry about missed opportunities. As I get older, I've been having a better and better time.
You can carry yourself in a certain way and be pretty much able to carry on your life as normally as you can. I don't get recognised, but when I do, they just come up to me and say: "I saw that film you were in. I really didn't like it."
Stardom dismays me. I seek to get better at my job, not better known. I have always done theatre and I think it is a very healthy thing to stop film and go back into the theatre, back to learning lines, doing eight performances a week and getting heckled.
The eyes are the sexiest part of the body. They are what connect us as human beings.
I'm no heart-throb. No amount of moisturiser will soften me up, I don't think.
When I was 10 or 11, I played the Artful Dodger in a school production of Oliver. I feel like I've been playing a variation on the same role ever since.
I was very uncomfortable being prime-time TV fodder in Chancer. Suddenly there were posters of my face on the tube. I was young and I handled it badly. I've never wanted fame, as such.
I'm a real Armani fan. I really love their clothes. In the old days I was the kind of guy who blew whatever I had on Armani clothes. Now they send me stuff for free.
I need to keep my life intact. Whatever I'm doing, my real life is my wife and our two daughters, Hannah and Eve. I have a very settled family life, doing things like gardening and laughing and tasting cheeses. To have a life outside the industry is the most important thing in the world.
My childhood was old-fashioned working-class "rough". I know how good my life is now. -
©Marianne Gray
l Killer Elite opens on October 21.
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