Clive Owen: Fame is a privilege

Los Angeles — His lucky streak started in 2003 when Clive Owen crossed the Atlantic and appeared with a pre-Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie in the romantic war drama Beyond Borders.

Two years later, the actor would star opposite Julia Roberts and receive an Academy award nomination for his critically-acclaimed turn as a sadist husband in Mike Nichols’ masterpiece Closer. Since then he has appeared in several high-profile productions with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Derailed with Jennifer Aniston, Inside Man with Jodie Foster, Children of Men with Julianne Moore, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age with Cate Blanchett.

Clive is that lucky actor and he is, in his words, “grateful for it every day.” Having endured a rough childhood, Clive considers his fame a “privilege.”

“I don’t quite know how it happened, but I have always been very serious about the work. What I am more grateful for is to have the opportunity to be working with the people I work with in the films I’m doing and I am literally grateful for it every day and I can’t believe the opportunities I’ve been given in the last few years.”

The actor met with this writer recently in Beverly Hills for the junket of The International, a globe-trotting, edge-of-your-seat thriller set amidst the convoluted world of global finance and the horrific dangers of back alley terror activities presented in the guise of legitimate trade. Seems like real-life, eh?

“It is probably the most timely film I’ve ever been involved with,” the actor says in agreement. “It is questioning whether banks are sound and whether they are using money appropriately and, you know, with globalization, the fact that they are involved in conflicts all over the world — these are the big questions at the moment with this financial crisis.”

In The International, Clive is Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent determined to bring to justice one of the world’s most powerful banks, which, he discovers, are engaged in various illegal activities. The thrilling chase will take him from Berlin to New York to Istanbul.

The actor, with his brooding appeal and unconventional good looks, seems perfectly fit for the part. The character he portrays is “infused with loneliness and roughness combined with sensitivity” says German director Tom Tykwer, who describes him as “good-looking, but carries a world-weariness” about him.

Like Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and Sean Connery, Clive excels in dark roles. “It must be what I am attracted to,” he says. “I am always interested in characters that have conflicts because I think there are more things to do. When things are straightforward or when they are easy and light, then there’s nothing left for me to do. I think that drama is about grappling with conflicts and that’s more interesting to work with.”

With his Hollywood career perfectly positioned, one wonders how he balances his personal life and his professional life.

“What I have done during the last few years is to make sure that I have a down time between movies, then it gives me freedom to take off and go to Australia and I feel that that rhythm is good because I get to have a huge amount of family time and then it’s work time for a while. That rhythm is working well,” he reveals.

He still considers London his home base and that’s where his family is based. “If you live in a town called Los Angeles — because it is primarily a one-industry town, all people talk about is status, status. I just think London culturally offers more and I have lots of friends there who have nothing to do with the movie business.”

Clive has two kids aged nine and 12 and both already have cell phones. “They got mobiles before their time but that’s basically so I can keep in contact with them when I travel,” he says. “They are now so entrenched in school that when I travel, it would not be practical for them to come along.”

Aside from his family, he also considers English soccer, the Liverpool team, in particular, a major passion of his life.

But when it comes to picking movies he “always starts with the script because that’s the story of the film” but the director, he reveals, is “hugely important for me.” He says “he wouldn’t do it just for the great part, and I think film is becoming more and more a director’s medium and if you’re in the hands of a great director, there’s a better chance of landing a good film.”

Has he actually declined a part because he didn’t want to work with the director? Without actually naming anyone, he casually replies, “Yeah.”

In The International, the chance to work with Tom Tykwer, the celebrated director of such diverse films as Run Lola Run, Heaven, and Perfume, is the primary reason he took the job while starring opposite Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts is also another factor.

“We knew each other for a while — socially, and we’ve nearly done films together,” he says of Naomi. “We’ve talked about it and this came about. I was thrilled. I thought she might not do it because she was close to having her baby being born but thankfully she showed up.”

Clive will re-team next with Julia Roberts in the comedy Duplicity.

Released by Columbia Pictures, The International opens Feb. 25 in theaters.