It’s my second meeting with one of my favorite – and certainly most handsome – actors, Clive Owen. The award-winning British thespian (a word more fitting than the simple Hollywoodian “actor”) plays Theo in Alfonso Cuaron’s adaptation of P.D. James’ novel, “Children of Men”, a bleak view of the not-so-far future where women are infertile and man has depleted the planet of its natural resources. Until Theo comes across one young woman, eight months pregnant and representing hope for the immigrant-fearing, terror-driven place the world has become. But the unborn child becomes the coveted “prize” of many political camps, who will go out of their way to try to claim it. Theo must save her… and humanity.  Clive Owen, looking ever-so-elegant, gives me the low-down on the film, Alfonso’s wicked sense of humor and David Bowie at the Plaza in Paris.
 
Metro: Did you read the book before filming began? How much do you refer to the book as opposed to the script?
CO: Yeah, not before I’d read the script, but before filming. I liked it, but it’s very different from the film - it’s usually different. I think that’s always the case when you’re turning a novel or a play into a film. I’m usually more interested in the script than I am in the source material, because it’s too frustrating if you’re trying to go back to the book and saying, “Yeah, but in the book…” Because Alfonso has already gone way over there with his vision of what the thing is! Ultimately, you just have to concentrate on the film.

Theo is a hero with a lot of flaws that don’t really make him seem like one. Was it a very intentional depiction?
CO: Yeah, both of us had a very strong idea of him. We were more interested in his weaknesses than in his strengths. That was what interesting to us: a fallible human being in the center of a story like this. And Alfonso is so not interested in movie clichés. He’s so trying to shake up the way things are done in movies. I mean, I’m a huge fan of his. I love all of his movies, but I think that’s on of the things you respond to in each of his films. From the outset, I knew this was going to be a highly unusual [project]. It’s a hugely powerful movie and there’s no phenomenon, dynamism about him at all. His key characteristics are he’s drunk, cynical, desperately sad, inept, fearful. That’s so unusual for a lead.

There’s one other detail that struck me about him: his lack of suitable footwear!
CO: (Laughs) And it’s deliberate! Alfonso was obsessed! There’s a point in the movie when Theo becomes engaged again, he’s active again, and he’s running around trying to save the girl which, in turn, might save the world. Alfonso thought: I don’t even want to smell a hint of that cliché we’ve seen before when the guy becomes good. [Theo’s] never going to be cool! (Laughs)

Did you feel like killing Alfonso for it?
CO: A lot, a lot! I think he’s got a wicked sense of humor!

It’s a very bleak view of the future and hints at the end of humanity. Do you, as a father of two girls, fear that this future may become reality one day? Besides infertility, there are also a lot of modern-day issues that are addressed in the film.
CO: A fear of the instability of the world, yeah, for sure, but also the other themes that the film is discussing – immigration, environment, terrorism. He’s been very clever because he’s done a film that’s set in the future, but he’s just using it as an excuse to tackle head on the concerns right now. And it’s a warning – like we’ve got to watch where things are going. And I think of my kids. The most worrying thing at the moment is that it’s a very unstable world and you worry that that will just be a part of their lives, that they will grow into a world where that is how it is. And that is not a nice thought.

The story is set in 2027 but Alfonso has made it look like 2006. It’s more credible than a futuristic picture.
CO: Yeah, well it’s a more low-tech version of the future. When we first started making the film, everyone was talking about this sci-fi, futuristic movie and high-design concepts, futuristic cars and technology. It looks like now but worse. It looks like we’ve gone backwards. It looks like it’s just deteriorating – it’s dirtier. And that was always his intent to do that. It was always going to be that.

And the atmosphere all around is very Dickensian – very gray and bleak.
CO: It’s filthy. Every time we were down in the streets to do any exteriors, he just pumped gray smoke to make it feel like we were realty in a shitty environment. (Laughs)

The last time we met, you were bombarded all day with 007 questions. I suppose you’re not getting as many anymore?
CO: No, very few!   

What do you think of Daniel Craig as Bond?
CO: I think he’s a really great choice.

The press hasn’t always been kind with him.
CO: It’s so ridiculous, because he’s a really fine, proper actor. People should be celebrating the fact that they put a proper actor in the part. He’s not shallow, posing – he’s a really good actor! But they’ll all shut up when the film comes out ‘cos he’s a really good actor! That’s the sort of heat that you get when you take on a part like that. There’s so many people that are so obsessed about that thing that they’ve all got an idea of what it should be.

Who’s you’re favorite James Bond?
CO: It’s got to be Connery, hasn’t it? (Smiles)

You’re part of the elite group of Brit actors who’ve made it being in Hollywood. Is it really a case of being better or does being in the right place at the right time have a lot to do with it?
CO: It’s about the opportunity, that’s all. It’s about getting inside and opening things up for you. It came very late for me. I had a very full and satisfying career at home in England in small films, theater and TV, and I wasn’t after anything else. But I did a small film that introduced me to America and opened me up to an American audience. They make more films there than anywhere else and that’s were a lot of films are funded. If you make an impact there, the film thing opens up for you. And then obviously, you use the space that’s created – you can fuck that up or not. You can make bad choices or do bad acting. It’s not a sure thing, but the most important thing is to get the break. Mine was one that should never have happened. I was just completely caught off-guard with a little film, Croupier. It didn’t even get released in England.

I think part of your appeal as an actor is that you choose totally different parts.
CO: I deliberately do that. I just did a little run of four films back to back, and I look back and the one thing I like more than anything else is just how different they are. I went from Spike’s film (“Inside Man”) to do this to do a crazy action movie to do “The Golden Age”, a sort of sequel to “Elizabeth”, and I think they’re all pretty damn different, you know?

What’s the crazy action movie you did?
CO: It’s a crazy, really wild action film called “Shoot’Em Up”, which is very fresh. It’s like the wildest thing.

What about “Sin City 2”?
CO: No idea what’s going on there. No one does. They’re going to do with, but who with and when?

Let’s discuss David Bowie now.
CO: I’m a fan of David Bowie, yeah.

What’s your favorite Bowie song?
CO: It might have to be – because that’s the first one I hear and that sort of was the kick-off – “Hunky Dory”.

You top 5 Bowie albums?
CO: Oh my God! I’ll need time with that. That’s hard! But his last two albums have been pretty great. He’s still doing it.

You started out in the theater. Do you want to return to the stage at one point?
CO: I’m thinking about doing something next year. I’m flirting with this idea. It’s been a few years. The thing is, it’s going to get harder the longer I leave it. I think it’s a good time to go back and do something.

Is it harder to play in front of a camera or up on stage in front of an audience?
CO: It’s harder on stage. It’s a different energy and a different discipline. It’s front-line stuff. You walk out there and it doesn’t happen or the play doesn’t come together or you’re not going to be good in it. It gets bad reviews and then you’ve got to [still] do it for a month. And physically, it’s usually filling in the space with your presence.

Has your theater training helped you in moves or, on the contrary, it’s too different?
CO: Well, I used to flit between the two quite regularly and I always felt like the one sort of served the other. And whenever I did a play, I was like, “I’m never going to play again. I can’t wait to just make a movie.” And then I do a movie or two and think, “I just want to get on and breathe a little and explore a character and continue a suite.” For me, my first job is film – there’s no question. There’s something about the collaboration of filmmaking that I adore, the coming together of all these people trying to create something outside of any individualist control. But theater is like the gym – theater is like a really good workout and it makes you fit as an actor. It puts big demands on you. It’s like a really heavy workout and I think it’s good every now and again.

Who’s your favorite playwright?
CO: Sorry to be cliché, but probably Shakespeare.

No, it’s a good choice. The man introduced 700 words into the English language. The movie you would’ve liked to play in?
CO: For dialogue, “The Sweet Smell of Success”. “Barton Fink” is a pretty incredible movie, and a film Alfonso gave me before I committed to this film – because he talked about it before he talked about this film. He sent the DVD to me and it blew me away: it was “The Battle of Algiers”. I still don’t think anyone has achieved anything like that kind of realism in a movie – yet.

Would you direct a movie? Or would it be something you’d have to really feel passionate about to give up acting for a while?
CO: I’ve thought of making a movie, but I agree – you’ve got to find something you really, really want to do. The rhythm of an actor compared to the rhythm of a director is completely different. So to stop the acting and start the directing, I’d have to do something that I really wanted to direct. I’ve never come across that.