Clive's banking on an International success; Kate Whiting discovers that movie making is a real family affair for Clive Owen interview.

Byline: Kate Whiting

MAYBE it's the cup of tea in front of him, the way he thoughtfully strokes his chin as he speaks, or the genuine vigour in his voice, but Clive Owen seems surprisingly normal.

The ruggedly good-looking actor has come a long way from his "rough" Coventry childhood, but despite winning over Hollywood, he remains fiercely loyal to the UK and is firmly rooted in London.

"I love living here," he says. "I came to London 20 years ago and fell in love with it. My kids are very happy here, they're very settled at school, all my friends are here, there's absolutely no reason for me to go anywhere."

Clive's family-centred home life is a world away from the red carpet glamour of Hollywood and you sense that's just how he likes it.

And when work, like his latest film The International, takes him away from home, he makes sure wife Sarah-Jane Fenton and their daughters, Hannah, 12, and Eve, 9, come too.

"They come to nearly every film I do and they have a great time," the 44-year-old says.

The International, as its title suggests, took Clive all over the world - from Berlin, to Istanbul, Milan and New York as his character, Interpol agent Louis Salinger, tries to bring down the world's most corrupt bank.

With the global economy in freefall and bankers swiftly being cast as the new villains, it's an eerily prescient film.

"It's amazing to think that Eric (Singer - the screenwriter) started writing it six years ago," Clive says.

"When I read the script, I felt like it was a subject that was worth discussing and talking about now, but no one could have predicted how timely it's become.

"The whole thing is about pursuing this huge bank that we believe to be totally corrupt and questioning whether they're using money appropriately and whether they're sound and trustworthy - it's become the topic of the moment and it's not that farfetched."

This happy coincidence was not lost on the film's marketing team who have written a tagline sure to boost the box office takings: "They control your money.

They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays."

But then, as Clive says, Hollywood still has to make money in a recession.

"I don't think anyone can avoid it really, it reaches everybody and it certainly reaches the film game.

Studios are tightening their belt and they're more careful about the way they spend their money."

For his own part, the handsome actor seems to be fairing quite well.

His performance opposite King Kong star Naomi Watts in The International is followed next month by spy caper Duplicity, where Clive teams up with Closer co-star and Oscarwinning actress Julia Roberts.

"That script had some of the best dialogue I've read in years," he says, green eyes sparkling.

"It's about a couple of corporate spies who are having an affair and decide to scam the companies they're working for but don't trust each other at the same time, scenes with lots of wicked humour.

"It reminded me of old Cary Grant films, like His Girl Friday, because it trips along with great speed and rhythm."

Even more appealing for an actor, Clive was asked to choose his leading lady.

"Writer Tony Gilroy sent me the script and said 'who would you have as your No 1 choice to play that part?' We both said 'Julia Roberts is the best at this kind of stuff, it would be fantastic'.

"Julia was pregnant at the time, so it wasn't really an issue, then later, she came to the script, rang me up and said 'I think we should do this one'. I was thrilled, because there's just nobody better to do this kind of movie with."

The last time they were together on screen, in 2004 drama Closer, Clive and Julia's characters treated each other appallingly.

Luckily, their relationship is rather different in real life.

"It's so much easier when you've worked with somebody and you respect each other, you like each other," Clive says.

"In a movie like this, it's very much a series of great banter scenes between the two of us, and as the trust thing was taken care of before we began, we got to work much quicker and it was much more playful."

The good news for Clive's children is that Duplicity might be one of the first of daddy's films they can watch; "apart from Julia and I kissing a little bit!" he laughs.

"It's really beginning to get to them that they can't see my films," he explains.

"They're like 'why can't we watch it? We know it's a movie!' But the idea of them sitting down and watching Closer or (18-rated) Shoot 'Em Up is a big no no. So they are putting serious pressure on me to do a kids' film."

It's unlikely that The International will be showing in the Owen house any time soon though.

While there's no onscreen romance between Clive and his costar Naomi, there is a bloody body count in the main set piece - a breath-taking shoot-out at New York's iconic Guggenheim Museum.

Liverpool FC fan Clive's ascent to Hollywood hero has been a steady one - after winning a place at RADA in the mid-80s he started out on the stage at the Young Vic, playing Romeo to his future wife Sarah's Juliet.

He took on several TV roles, most notably as a loveable rogue in ITV series Chancer, before his breakout film role in 1998's Croupier.

"It's the ones that you least expect," he says of the film's surprise success.

"It was a tiny film that literally changed my whole career - that was the first thing that made any impact in America for me and it opened up a world that I'm still reaping the benefits of."

Then came Closer, which won Clive an Oscar nomination and cemented his place alongside Daniel Craig as one of Britain's most bankable leading men.

Clive credits his success to a sea change in the movie industry, which allows English actors to play more than just "the baddie" in Hollywood.

"There's so much money to be made globally, not just in America, that the whole thing has opened up."Once the publicity tours for The International and Duplicity are over, Clive has no idea what he'll be doing next, but he's not worried.

"It's actually quite nice. It's been the first time for a long time when I haven't known what I'm going to do and it's a reminder of when I first started out in acting when we'd talk about the unpredictability of it.

"You never know what's going to be happening and that was always one of the attractions for me, that unknown. The whole world can fall in front of you and suddenly you're experiencing something you never would have imagined.

"I'm currently in a place where I literally have no idea what I'm going to do next and it's quite exciting."

The International is in cinemas today.

CAPTION(S):

Clive with his wife Sarah-Jane Fenton; Clive Owen as Louis Salinger and Naomi Watts as Eleanor Whitman battle through the crowds in The International