Clive Owen talks about that Bond job

Clive Owen was in two minds about taking a lead role opposite Denzel Washington in Inside Man - because most of the time you can't see his face - reports The Daily Record.

Clive plays Dalton Russell, the brains behind a daring heist in the film and, to avoid being caught, his character hides his identity behind a mask and dark glasses. But Clive decided it would be a fresh challenge for him and his co-stars.

"It was a weird experience," he said, "because I'm masked for most of the movie. It was also difficult for Denzel and Jodie Foster to act because they couldn't see my eyes."

Odd too because Clive's brooding good looks have up till now tended to be a major talking point about his films.

Still, in a fitted leather jacket, close-cropped hair and light tan, he has a hotel maid swooning when he asks for a drink, then settles down to explain why he's glad he said no to the 007 role.

A Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee for Closer last year, Clive, 41, says he was never tempted to slip on the James Bond tuxedo.

"The whole James Bond thing is totally irrelevant," he said.

"I've always chosen roles for quality. It's not the pay-check but the quality of your work that's important."

Yet rumours that the handsome actor might strap on a Walther PPK dogged him throughout last year.

Even his Sin City director Robert Rodriguez publicly teased Clive about his bond with Bond back in May.

In the end, the role went to Daniel Craig, amid rumours that Clive had priced himself out of the market. It was said he had asked for a percentage of the profits, estimated at £30m, and the Bond producers turned him down.

"Not true," said Clive. "There are worse things than being pegged as the next Bond, but there was never an official offer.

"I took myself out of the frame by accepting three movies this year when Bond is filming. I couldn't be happier."

Clive's certainly happy to avoid the kind of flak that Daniel Craig has been getting from fans, who say he's too young, too blond and too ugly to be Bond. But Clive is convinced that Daniel is the right man for the role.

He said: "The fans will be tough on him until the movie comes out, and then they'll love him. He's a great actor."

In any case, Clive grabbed the chance to send up his own Bond chances in this month's Pink Panther film, where he amazes Steve Martin's Clouseau as a dinner-suited secret agent who cleans up a roomful of villains faster than Anthea Turner with a bottle of Domestos.

And even without Bond's gizmos and gadgets, Hollywood's leading ladies are not immune to his charms.

In fact, Jennifer Aniston signed up for his last picture, Derailed, on the recommendation of Julia Roberts, Clive's Closer co-star.

Clive revealed: "Julia said some very nice things about me to Jennifer. Now I say very nice things about them."

Clive also saw what Jennifer went through after the break-up of her marriage to Brad Pitt.

"There's no question that she's been under the most severe spotlight," he said, adding that the 36-year-old Friends star was both down to earth and "uncomplicated" to work with.

Chumming up with a former Friend, joshing with Julia and snubbing James Bond - it's a far cry from Clive's background of growing up in Coventry where money was too tight to mention.

Clive said of his childhood: "It wasn't easy - a broken home, working-class family. It was tough. And then one day I got cast as the Artful Dodger in Oliver for our school play and I knew this was what I wanted to do."

His first taste of fame came in the TV series Chancer as a cocky charmer.

But Clive found overnight success was not his style and walked away from the show.

"I was very young and I was in a big TV show," he said. "Suddenly there were billboards with my face on them and the tabloids were going mad for it. I was very uncomfortable with it all."

After almost a decade out of the spotlight, Clive made his comeback via two stepping stones. First there was Croupier, a low-budget British film that became a cult hit in America. Then BMW cast him in a series of car commercials on the internet. They were directed by Guy Ritchie, who cast him as Madonna's chauffeur. After that, a string of films followed that cast him as troubled rather than heroic.

Even his King Arthur seemed to be shady, although that might have been because Clive hadn't told the director he had never ridden a horse.

But while he's keen to appear in a range of roles, don't expect Clive to follow Hollywood's favourite Brit Hugh Grant into romantic comedies.

"I'm not crazy about light, frothy scripts," he frowned. "Most of them I don't find that funny."

Yet despite his aversion to light romance, Clive's first meeting with his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton, was pure Shakespeare.

He said: "I was just out of drama school and we did a tour of Romeo And Juliet. I played Romeo and Sarah was late for the first rehearsal.

"It was love at first sight."

They have been married for 12 years, and have two young daughters, Hannah and Eve.

The family are based in London and have no plans to relocate to Hollywood, even though it might help Clive practise his American accent for movie Shoot 'Em Up, which teams him with sexpot Monica Bellucci.

In the film, he helps deliver a baby in an alley during a gun battle.

He said: "It is a wild, fresh, original script. My character keeps being put in incredible situations and you can't believe he is going to get out of them."

After that, he's back to playing a Brit for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, where he is Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett, who repeats her Oscar-winning role.

All this film-making leaves Clive little time for his favourite pursuits - football and gambling.

"I'm a Liverpool fan and I go to games when I can," he said.

Because of work commitments, Clive had to watch Liverpool play AC Milan in last year's Champions League final in a bar in London instead of actually being at the game in Istanbul.

He said: "Strangely, one of the guys in the bar was Mickey Rourke. He was amazed at the crazy reaction when we won the cup."

The win was all the sweeter because Clive had a bet on Liverpool to win.

So will Clive say how much he won that day?

"No," he laughed. "But let's just say it was a very good day."

Inside Man is in cinemas now.

Thanks to `Kyvan` for the alert.

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