Clive
Owen - 10
Things...
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From
Scene One: *
Born 1965 in Coventry. He was brought up by his mother and stepfather,
and didn't meet his biological dad, a country and western singer, until
he was 19. *
Films include 'Close My Eves' (1991), 'Century' (1993), 'Bent' (1997),
'Croupier' (1998), 'Greenfingers' (2000) and Robert Altman's 'Gosford
Park' (2001). TV includes 'Chancer' (1990) and 'Second Sight' (2000-1). *
After the surprise success of 'Croupier' in America, Owen and director
Mike Hodges are to team up for another movie, 'Ill Sleep When I'm Dead'.
But they're not complacent about its potential success. Hodge says:
"You hope you're making a good film but it's a total gamble. You
just don't know whether it's going to have legs." * 'Croupier' was heavily tipped for Academy Awards, but in the end was deemed ineligible due to Academy technicalities. Namely: it had been screened on Dutch TV already (they don'tlike that) and in Singapore cinemas the year before. Ah well. *
Like every other actor, it seems, he lives in Islington. Unlike any
other actor, so far as we know, he's married to actress Sarah-Jane Fenton,
with whom he has two daughters, Hannah and Eve. *
They married in 1995, after a long romance that started when he played
Romeo to her Juliet in a production at the Young Vic. He says: "There's
no way round it, it happened, however schmaltzy it sounds." *
Incest in 'Close My Eves', online sex talk on stage in 'Closer', a dad
who wants to kill his handicapped daughter in 'A Day in the Death of
Joe Egg' - what won't he do? "I wouldn't make a porn film,"
he says. "But no, there's nothing I'm afraid of. I'm not a method
actor, so I don't torture myself. I just regret the ones that weren't
any good. There've been a few turkeys." *
He's current favourite to take over from Pierce Brosnan as James Bond
- Brosnan claims he's bowing out after his fourth 007 appearance next
year. But surely Owen would turn up his actorly nose at such crassness?
"Are you kidding? I'd seriously consider it. They still do bloody
well." *
Those who can't wait to see Owen slip on his tux as 007 can see him,
well, doing some nifty driving at least in 'The Hire', a series of flashy
adverts for cars at www.bmwfilms.com, working for directors such as
Guy Ritchie, Alejandro Gonzalez I?arritu, John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee
and Wong-Kar Wei. *
'Croupier' director Mike Hodge reckons Owen can be as big a star as
Michael Caine, whom Hodge directed in 'Get Carter'. He says: "If
you watch Caine move, his whole thinking process is deliberate and carefully
worked out. I think Owen is similarly meticulous." |