'Clive Owen' (born
October 3,
1964) is a
Golden Globe and
BAFTA award winning
English actor, now a regular performer in
Hollywood and independent
American films. In 2005, Owen was nominated for an
Academy Award and won a
Golden Globe and
BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film version of ''
Closer''.
Biography
Early life
Owen was born in
Coventry,
West Midlands,
England, the fourth of five brothers. When Owen was three, his father (a
country and western singer) left the family. Owen was raised by his mother and step-father, a
railway ticket clerk,
[1][2] and only met his father again at the age of nineteen.
[3] While initially opposed to drama school, he changed his mind in 1984, after a long and fruitless period of searching for work. Owen graduated from
RADA in 1987 in a class including both
Ralph Fiennes and
Jane Horrocks. After graduation, he won a position at the
Young Vic, performing in several
William Shakespeare plays. In an incident he later described as "very schmaltzy," he met his future wife Sarah Jane Fenton.
Career
Initially, Owen carved out a career in television: in 1988 Owen starred as Gideon Sarn in a BBC television production of ''
Precious Bane'' and the Channel 4 film ''Vroom'' before the
1990s saw him become a regular on stage and television in the UK, notably his lead role in the ITV series ''
Chancer'' followed by an appearance in the Thames Television production of ''
Lorna Doone''.
He won critical acclaim for his performances in a 1991
Stephen Poliakoff film called
Close My Eyes, about a brother and sister who embark on an
incestuous love affair. Due to personal conflicts with the press, Owen decided not to appear in television programmes for a while. However, he subsequently appeared in ''The Magician'', ''Class Of '61'', ''Century'', ''Nobody's Children'', ''An Evening With Gary Lineker'', ''Doomsday Gun'', ''Return Of The Native'', ''The Turnaround'' and then a Carlton production called ''Sharman'', about a private detective. In 1996 he appeared in his first major
Hollywood film ''
The Rich Man's Wife'' alongside
Halle Berry before finding international acclaim in a Channel 4 film directed by
Mike Hodges called ''
Croupier'' in
1998. He played the title role of a struggling writer who takes a job in a London casino as inspiration for his work, only to get caught up in a robbery scheme. In 1999 he appeared as an accident-prone driver called ''Split Second'', his first BBC production for a decade.
He then starred in ''The Echo'', a BBC1 drama. He also starred in a film called ''Greenfingers'' about a criminal who goes to work in a garden, before appearing in the BBC1 mystery series ''
Second Sight'', in which he played DCI Ross Tanner. In 2001 he provided the voice-over for a BBC2 documentary about popular music through the years called ''Walk On By'', as well as starring in a highly-acclaimed theatre production called ''The Day In The Death Of Joe Egg'', about a couple with a severely handicapped daughter. He then appeared in
Robert Altman's ''
Gosford Park'', alongside an all-star cast including
Helen Mirren and
Ryan Phillippe. He has also appeared in ''
The Bourne Identity'', along with American actor
Matt Damon. In 2003 he starred in other films including Trevor Preston's ''I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'' and ''
Beyond Borders'' before taking on the title role in ''
King Arthur''. He took horse-riding lessons for the latter role.
He has since appeared in the
comic book thriller ''
Sin City'' as the
noir antihero Dwight McCarthy; as a mysterious bank robber in ''
Inside Man'' and as
Sir Walter Raleigh opposite
Cate Blanchett's
Elizabeth I in the film ''
Golden Age''.
He also appeared in the West End and Broadway hit play ''
Closer'', by
Patrick Marber, which again became a film which was released in 2005, before he starred in ''
Derailed'' alongside
Jennifer Aniston. It is interesting to note that he played " Dan" in the play "Closer" but was "Larry" the dermatologist in the film version of the play. His blistering, darkly comic portrayal of Larry in the film version earned him a lot of recognition as well as the awards mentioned above.
In 2006, Owen starred in the highly acclaimed ''
Children of Men''. He received widespread praise for his role as the former political activist-turned-reluctant hero Theo Faron. The film was nominated for various awards including an
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Owen worked on the screenplay, although he was uncredited.
[4] He noted that the expectations of him since the
Oscar nomination have not changed the way he approaches film-making.
''I try, every film I do, to be as good as I can and that’s all I can do.[5]
He became well known to North American audiences after starring as ''The Driver'' in the
BMW films. Despite public denials, Owen had long been rumored to be a possible successor to
Pierce Brosnan in the role of
James Bond. A public opinion poll in the United Kingdom in
October 2005 (SkyNews) found that he was the public's number one choice to star in the next installment of the series. In that same month, however, it was announced that British actor
Daniel Craig would become the next
James Bond. In 2006 Owen spoofed the Bond connection by making an appearance in the remake of ''
The Pink Panther'' in which he plays a character named "Nigel Boswell, Agent 006" (when he introduces himself to
Inspector Clouseau he quips that Owen's character is "one short of the big time").
In November 2006, he became patron of the
Electric Palace Cinema in
Harwich,
England and launched an appeal for funds to repair deteriorating elements of the fabric.
He was mentioned by ''
Karl Pilkington'' in a podcast and named him as 'Clive Warren' by accident.
Filmography
''
Owen in ''Croupier''
References
1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/76/Clive-Owen.html
2. http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1258447,00.html
3. http://www.murphsplace.com/owen/articles/howmet.html
4. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32010
5. Clive Owen: A totally original badass
External links
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''Shoot 'Em Up'' Clive Owen interview
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