Clive Owen is a well-known English actor. Clive rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991. Clive first gained international attention for his performance as a struggling writer in Croupier in 1998, after receiving critical acclaim for his work in Close My Eyes in 1991. Clive won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award in 2005 and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2004 for his performance in the drama Closer.
Following Closer, he appeared in Derailed with Jennifer Aniston, the comic book thriller Sin City as the noir antihero Dwight McCarthy, and Inside Man as a mysterious bank robber. Despite public denials, Owen had been mentioned as a possible James Bond replacement for Pierce Brosnan. SkyNews conducted a public opinion poll in the United Kingdom in October 2005, and Clive was the number one choice to get the lead role in the following parts of the series. However, in the same month, it was announced that fellow British actor Daniel Craig would be the next James Bond. In an interview published in the September 2007 issue of Details, he stated that he was not approached or offered the role.
Clive Owen was the fourth of five sons born to Pamela and Jess Owen on October 3, 1964, in Keresley, Coventry. Owen’s father, a country and western singer, abandoned the family when he was three. The two had decided to remain estranged, despite a brief reconciliation when he was 19. He describes his childhood as “rough,” having been raised by his mother and stepfather, a railway ticket clerk. While initially opposed to drama school, Clive changed his mind in 1984 after a long, fruitless job search. Owen received his diploma from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Following graduation, he continued to work at the Young Vic, where he appeared in several Shakespearean plays.
Owen appeared in the 2006 film Children of Men. The film received several nominations, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Owen worked on the screenplay but was uncredited. The following year, he co-starred in Shoot’ Em Up with Paul Giamatti and played Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth I of England in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. He made an appearance in the Christmas special of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s Extras. In 2009, Owen starred in The International, which he described as a “paranoid political thriller.” He starred in The Boys Are Back, an Australian adaptation of Simon Carr’s novel The Boys Are Back in Town.
Owen met his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton, in 1988 while both were performing in a production of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet at London’s Young Vic Theatre. The couple started dating and got married in March 1995. They have two daughters together, Hannah Owen and Eve Owen. Clive became a patron of the Electric Palace Cinema in Harwich, Essex, in November 2006 and initiated an attraction for funds to repair worsening components of the historic building. Owen is a Liverpool FC fan who narrated the fly-on-the-wall new documentary Being: Liverpool.
Clive Owen’s roles
Owen has starred in films such as Sin City in 2005, Derailed in 2005, Inside Man, Children of Men, and The International. For his role in Hemingway & Gellhorn, he received Clive’s first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for being one of the Outstanding Lead Actors in a Miniseries or a Movie in 2012. Clive received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama for his role as Dr. John W. Thackery on the Cinemax medical drama series The Knick. In 2021, Clive starred in the psychological romance horror miniseries Lisey’s Story and also played President Bill Clinton’s season American Crime Story.
Being in a theater means having a flexible talent for acting. Clive was one of the actors who could clearly shift a villain into the lead role with excellent performance. Clive has been working like this for years and still showcases a great talent. “The thing that’s always been important to me is that I trained in the theatre, and right from when I was at drama school, it’s all about playing lots of different parts. In your last year of drama school, you want a variety of roles – to test yourself and push yourself in lots of directions. That’s still the same. I still have the same instincts.” Clive said
Clive Owen is a Hollywood star
Being a Hollywood star cannot just change your life. It can change everything. Not all Hollywood stars do love their job. Some want more, and some want to work. Not with Clive. Clive has been a fan of acting since then. He has been an eager actor who wants to showcase his talent all over the world. Being in his shoes proves that Clive really wants to share his hard work both in theatre and film.
Clive Owen said, “People used to say acting is a very precarious business: “Are you sure?” “Are you cut out for it?” To be frank, some people aren’t. Some people start in the acting game, and they hate the in and out of work and that other people determine if they’re going to work. Still, I was always a really great fan of the idea that tomorrow a script could arrive that could set me alight, the possibility of change, the potential that something great could be out there.”
“When I left drama school, I only wanted to do theatre. I wasn’t interested, really, in TV or film. That was the reason I got into theatre because I liked doing plays. And then when I was pretty young, just a few years out of drama school, I landed a TV show that changed things a lot for me.” Clive explained.
Clive Owen on his nerve-wracking opportunities
Clive said, “For 10 years in the UK, I did small films, theatre, and TV because most English actors do everything. Certainly, in those days, you couldn’t sustain a career in movies in the UK because they didn’t make enough movies – they made a handful a year. I used to occasionally go to LA on the back of some small film I was in, and I’d do meetings, but I’d come straight back home. It wasn’t something I was chasing, but then I got lucky.”
Being in the acting industry for over a decade, Clive’s big break didn’t end in the United Kingdom but started in LA. Working with different actors doesn’t just prove how good you are. This demonstrates that you want to share good things and good memories with them. Clive is an example of an actor who doesn’t give up on something he wants to pursue. So look at Clive now. He is a real example that you should chase your dream, whatever the circumstances.
“I did a tiny little film called Croupier that became a cult hit in America. It was kind of the cool little indie film of that year, and it changed everything. The whole film thing opened up. But it wasn’t my aspiration. It just happened that way.” He added.
Clive Owen on Croupier
Croupier is a British neo-noir film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Clive Owen, released in 1998. The film had a strong critical reception in North America, where it helped launch Owen’s acting career. Interior monologues are used in the style of many early noir detective films. Croupier was released on DVD in Canada by Alliance Atlantis and in the United States by Image Entertainment. After being shown on Dutch television, it was disqualified from the Academy Awards.
From Clive’s perspective, he didn’t know that this movie would be a hit, but the film was terrific and captured the audience’s hearts. “The original release of Croupier didn’t even have a poster – that was the kind of release it got. There was no real release! It was destined to go straight to TV, and it was only through a guy who has since become a good friend of mine because I kind of think he had a lot to do with my career-changing, called Mike Kaplan. He came from a background in marketing. He’d marketed Altman’s and [Stanley] Kubrick’s films and fell in love with this little film, championed it, got a release for it, found a poster for it, and created a whole life for it. Out of that, it got great reviews, and he sustained it for months.” Clive explains.
“I knew Mike Hodges, who directed it, was good. Mike Hodges did the original Get Carter, which is often regarded as the best British film ever made,” Clive added.
Clive Owen worked with great actors, directors, and writers
Clive has been a great actor in all of his work. They say that working with great people is not just a thing. It can help you boost your confidence and your talent. Clive Owen noted that “I never ever choose something because I’m shaping a career. A career is for when you look back. It’s the series of individual choices of movies that I’ve made that make up what that is. It’s not something where I think I want “that” kind of film or “that” kind of part. I’m lucky enough that I get sent scripts, read them, and relate to them, or I don’t, and there’s no shaping of that. It’s about wanting to do as many things as possible and take on that challenge of different things in different environments.”
Clive Owen on a medical drama series
Clive has been a risker. Being on a medical drama series is out of his comfort zone. He shared that it was a different medical series from what medical exercises we are used to. He said, “This was a time when people weren’t even wearing gloves to do operations. People started wearing gloves in operations because they were putting the instruments into the sterilizing stuff, and their hands were getting hurt. It wasn’t a clinical thing. It was to protect them. Gradually from that, they realized that hygiene was a factor. Operations were performed in theatres. Surgical theatres had audiences watching.”
“It was possibly the hardest thing doing the operations and saying, “Now I’m going to …” because I’m not a doctor. But that’s my job. The operations were gory. You know, you were lucky to come out of one alive. There’s one operation where I bore into someone’s skull because they think that was a way of releasing pressure from the brain – with a hole in the head! It’s pretty wild stuff. It’s very, very exciting, very edgy. Soderbergh used electronic music on it. It has an energy that feels fresh and relevant even though it’s 1900. It’s unlike any other period thing you’ve ever seen.” Clive added.
Working with Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is a film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor from the United States. Soderbergh is a renowned and prolific filmmaker who pioneered modern independent cinema. Clive praised Steve for how he worked hard and how his style.
“He lights, he operates, he directs, he edits. He was brilliant. It’s very challenging work, and he moves quickly. We shoot a lot every day. In many of the operations, you’re not only addressing the other doctors but also the audience, so there are a lot of demanding elements. You don’t get a lot of takes, but challenging is good. That’s the best work.” Clive explained.
Clive Owen’s life
Acting necessitates determination, persistence, and passion, but do not let your love for acting jeopardizes your health and time for the family. You will be turned down for roles as an actor, and it is natural to become frustrated and question your career choice. But keep in mind that it is all part of the adventure. Do not limit yourself to working during the day and training at night. It is also lovely and great to spend time with your loved ones. Allowing yourself time to relax and enjoy new experiences will help keep your creative juices flowing.
Owen met his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton, in 1988 while both were performing in a production of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet at London’s Young Vic Theatre. The couple started dating soon after and married in March 1995. They have two daughters together, Hannah Owen and Eve Owen. As we all know, everything would change somehow over the years, but Clive and his wife have always been great partners. Clive said, “We’ve known each other such a long time. It might have been different if one partner was very successful when you met, but because we go back way back when not really. The hardest part is traveling, of course.”
True love is the same as any other relationship. It is the tie that binds when love is unconditional and consistent. Both must have much trust and confidence in each other and themselves. They must genuinely support one another rather than pretending to do so to persuade themselves or one another. “The beauty of being an actor is that as you get older, it’s ever-changing. There are always parts to play. That journey is easier for men.” Clive said.
Acting in the Long Run
As actors, they thrive on filming and being on set, and while they love the sense of creative accomplishment when it is all over, it can also leave them physically and mentally exhausted. Being an actor is all about finding the right balance. Most regular jobs have set hours; at the end of the day, you get to go home, rest, and spend time with your family. Unfortunately, the acting makes it difficult for them. There are no guarantees about when your next role will be available, which is why most actors work regular day jobs and acting jobs. Even most Hollywood actors have a side hustle to supplement their income during the off-season.
Most people believe that having a plan B keeps you from working on plan A, but this is not true. Plan B could be anything; it could be working part-time at a theater, freelance social media work, or anything else that has flexible hours and does not require all of your time and attention. Your backup plan should allow you to take on projects as they arise while also assisting you in developing a career focused on something else you are passionate about. We all need to be able to pay our bills, and the last thing you want to be worried about is money while preparing for an audition and learning lines.
“I love what I do. That hasn’t stopped. It’s odd. When I started out, when I was young, and I got a script that I really liked, it’s like everything became engaged. That still happens. I’ll be reading a script, and I’ll be reading and reading, and then all of a sudden, a great one comes along, and it all stops. Everything just comes alive.” Clive explained.