Clive Owen(I)
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
British actor Clive Owen is one of a handful of stars who, though he is best known for his art house films, can handle more mainstream films with equal measures of grace and skill. Owen
is typically cast as characters whose primary traits are a balance of
physical strength, intellect, conflicting soul but forceful will. He is best known to
film audiences for his work in
Children of Men (2006),
Closer (2004) and his breakout part in
Croupier (1998).
Born in Coventry, in England's West Midlands county, on 3 October 1964,
Owen is the fourth of five brothers. He is the son of Pamela (Cotton)
and Jess Owen, a country and western singer. His father abandoned the
family when he was three years old, and Owen was subsequently raised by
his mother and stepfather. He attended Binley Park Comprehensive School
and joined the youth theater at 13 after playing the scene-stealing
role of the Artful Dodger in a production of "Oliver!"
Acting was not his first choice as a profession, but he changed his
mind and went on to graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in
1987. Owen proceeded to join the Young Vic Theatre Company, where he
honed his craft while performing in a number of Shakespearean
productions.
Clive made his film debut in the British-made
Vroom (1990) co-starring with
David Thewlis as two fellows who restore a
classic American car and take off on the road. Within two years, Clive
became a full-fledged TV star playing devilish rogue Stephen Crane in
Chancer (1990). However, the
now-sought-after Clive abandoned the star-making part at the height of
the show's popularity because of unwanted invasion of privacy and his
fear of typecasting. His next project raised more than a few eyebrows
when he filmed Close My Eyes (1991)
in which he played a brother who acts on his incestuous desires for his
older sister. Clive's reputation as a lovable shyster was completely
shattered and he lost profitable commercial endorsements following the
film's release. Offers fell off for the next two years as a result. But
the persistent Clive carried on with stage work, including the role of
a bisexual in a production of Noël Coward's
"Design For Living." He returned to TV at that time as well and played
a number of roles in both mini-movies and series.
In 1997, Clive had a huge hit on the London stage with "Closer," a
cynical, contemporary ensemble piece about relationships. Controversy
surrounded him again in the film role of Max in
Bent (1997) playing a brash, reckless
homosexual lothario in decadent pre-war Germany who finds unconditional
love while interned in a Nazi war camp. His biggest film break,
however, was in Mike Hodges'
Croupier (1998), as a struggling
writer-turned-casino employee who gets in over his head with a femme
fatale scam artist. English audiences stayed away in droves but the
U.S. embraced the film and Hollywood took notice of Clive, who was
virtually unknown outside of England. Despite playing detective Ross
Tanner in a series of successful "Second Sight" mini-movies and finding
critical acclaim on stage with "The Day in the Death of Joe Egg" in
2001, Clive has focused primarily on film, including the offbeat Brit
romantic comedy Greenfingers (2000),
the classy and popular
Robert Altman period piece
Gosford Park (2001), the
Matt Damon star-vehicle
The Bourne Identity (2002),
and the title role in
King Arthur (2004). He has since
reached the top rungs of the Hollywood ladder with the film version of
his stage smash Closer (2004), in
which he received an Academy Award nomination and won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards
for "Supporting Actor." He also had noteworthy roles opposite
Denzel Washington in
Inside Man (2006); and
Julianne Moore and
Michael Caine in
Children of Men (2006), as well as handling a few biopics, playing Sir Walter Raleigh opposite
Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I in the film
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and Ernest Hemingway (Emmy nomination) in Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) also starring Nicole Kidman.
More recent films include starring roles in The International (2009), Duplicity (2009), The Boys Are Back (2009), Trust (2010), Intruders (2011), Blood Ties (2013), Last Knights (2015), The Confirmation (2016) and Anon (2018). He also played Claudius in a retelling of "Hamlet" per Ophelia's perspective in Ophelia (2018); and played in support to Will Smith in the sci-fi thriller Gemini Man (2019).
Owen is married to former actress Sarah-Jane Fenton,
who played Juliet to his Romeo at the Young Vic in 1998. The couple has
two daughters.
is typically cast as characters whose primary traits are a balance of
physical strength, intellect, conflicting soul but forceful will. He is best known to
film audiences for his work in
Children of Men (2006),
Closer (2004) and his breakout part in
Croupier (1998).
Born in Coventry, in England's West Midlands county, on 3 October 1964,
Owen is the fourth of five brothers. He is the son of Pamela (Cotton)
and Jess Owen, a country and western singer. His father abandoned the
family when he was three years old, and Owen was subsequently raised by
his mother and stepfather. He attended Binley Park Comprehensive School
and joined the youth theater at 13 after playing the scene-stealing
role of the Artful Dodger in a production of "Oliver!"
Acting was not his first choice as a profession, but he changed his
mind and went on to graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in
1987. Owen proceeded to join the Young Vic Theatre Company, where he
honed his craft while performing in a number of Shakespearean
productions.
Clive made his film debut in the British-made
Vroom (1990) co-starring with
David Thewlis as two fellows who restore a
classic American car and take off on the road. Within two years, Clive
became a full-fledged TV star playing devilish rogue Stephen Crane in
Chancer (1990). However, the
now-sought-after Clive abandoned the star-making part at the height of
the show's popularity because of unwanted invasion of privacy and his
fear of typecasting. His next project raised more than a few eyebrows
when he filmed Close My Eyes (1991)
in which he played a brother who acts on his incestuous desires for his
older sister. Clive's reputation as a lovable shyster was completely
shattered and he lost profitable commercial endorsements following the
film's release. Offers fell off for the next two years as a result. But
the persistent Clive carried on with stage work, including the role of
a bisexual in a production of Noël Coward's
"Design For Living." He returned to TV at that time as well and played
a number of roles in both mini-movies and series.
In 1997, Clive had a huge hit on the London stage with "Closer," a
cynical, contemporary ensemble piece about relationships. Controversy
surrounded him again in the film role of Max in
Bent (1997) playing a brash, reckless
homosexual lothario in decadent pre-war Germany who finds unconditional
love while interned in a Nazi war camp. His biggest film break,
however, was in Mike Hodges'
Croupier (1998), as a struggling
writer-turned-casino employee who gets in over his head with a femme
fatale scam artist. English audiences stayed away in droves but the
U.S. embraced the film and Hollywood took notice of Clive, who was
virtually unknown outside of England. Despite playing detective Ross
Tanner in a series of successful "Second Sight" mini-movies and finding
critical acclaim on stage with "The Day in the Death of Joe Egg" in
2001, Clive has focused primarily on film, including the offbeat Brit
romantic comedy Greenfingers (2000),
the classy and popular
Robert Altman period piece
Gosford Park (2001), the
Matt Damon star-vehicle
The Bourne Identity (2002),
and the title role in
King Arthur (2004). He has since
reached the top rungs of the Hollywood ladder with the film version of
his stage smash Closer (2004), in
which he received an Academy Award nomination and won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards
for "Supporting Actor." He also had noteworthy roles opposite
Denzel Washington in
Inside Man (2006); and
Julianne Moore and
Michael Caine in
Children of Men (2006), as well as handling a few biopics, playing Sir Walter Raleigh opposite
Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I in the film
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and Ernest Hemingway (Emmy nomination) in Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) also starring Nicole Kidman.
More recent films include starring roles in The International (2009), Duplicity (2009), The Boys Are Back (2009), Trust (2010), Intruders (2011), Blood Ties (2013), Last Knights (2015), The Confirmation (2016) and Anon (2018). He also played Claudius in a retelling of "Hamlet" per Ophelia's perspective in Ophelia (2018); and played in support to Will Smith in the sci-fi thriller Gemini Man (2019).
Owen is married to former actress Sarah-Jane Fenton,
who played Juliet to his Romeo at the Young Vic in 1998. The couple has
two daughters.