Clive Owen

For Clive Owen, the farmer and star of Our Yorkshire Farm, see Amanda Owen.

Clive Owen
Owen in 2006
Born	(1964-10-03) 3 October 1964 (age 60) Coventry, England
Education	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Sarah-Jane Fenton ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	2

Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film Close My Eyes (1991) before earning international attention for his performance as a struggling writer in Croupier (1998). In 2005, he won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the drama Closer (2004).

Owen has played leading roles in films such as Sin City (2005), Derailed (2005), Inside Man (2006), Children of Men (2006), and The International (2009). In 2012, he earned his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role in Hemingway & Gellhorn . He played Dr. John W. Thackery on the Cinemax medical drama series The Knick , for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama nomination. In 2021, Owen starred in the psychological romance horror miniseries Lisey's Story and also portrayed President Bill Clinton in the third season of American Crime Story . He then had further television roles in A Murder at the End of the World (2023) and Monsieur Spade (2024).

Early life

Owen was born in Keresley, Coventry (then in Warwickshire), ^[1] the fourth of five sons born to Pamela ( née Cotton) and Jess Owen. His father, a country and western singer, left the family when Owen was three years old, and despite a brief reconciliation when Owen was 19, they have remained estranged. ^{[2] [3]} He has described his childhood as "rough". ^[2]

While initially opposed to drama school, he changed his mind in 1984, after a long and fruitless period of searching for work. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, ^[4] he worked at the Young Vic, performing in several Shakespearean plays. ^[5]

Career

Early career

Initially, Owen's career was in television. In 1988, he starred as Gideon Sarn in a BBC production of Precious Bane and the Channel 4 film Vroom before the 1990s saw him become a regular on stage and television in the UK, notably his lead role in the ITV series Chancer , followed by an appearance in the Thames Television production of Lorna Doone .

He won critical acclaim for his performances in the Stephen Poliakoff film Close My Eyes (1991) about a brother and sister who embark on an incestuous love affair. He subsequently appeared in The Magician, Class of '61, Century , Nobody's Children , An Evening with Gary Lineker , Doomsday Gun , Return of the Native and a Carlton production called Sharman , about a private detective. In 1996, he appeared in his first major Hollywood film The Rich Man's Wife alongside Halle Berry before finding international acclaim in a Channel 4 film directed by Mike Hodges called Croupier (1998). In Croupier, he played the title role of a struggling writer who takes a job in a London casino as inspiration for his work, only to get caught up in a robbery scheme. In 1999, he appeared as an accident-prone driver in Split Second, his first BBC production in about a decade.

Owen starred in The Echo, a BBC1 drama, before starring in the film Greenfingers , about a criminal who goes to work in a garden. He appeared in the BBC1 mystery series Second Sight . In 2001, he provided the voice-over for Walk On By, a BBC2 documentary about popular music, as well as starring in a highly acclaimed theatre revival of Peter Nichols' play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg , about a couple with a severely handicapped daughter.

Subsequent work

Owen at the Children of Men premiere in Mexico City, 2006

Owen became known to North American audiences in the summer of 2001 after starring as "The Driver" in The Hire , a series of short films sponsored by BMW and made by prominent directors. ^[6] He appeared in Robert Altman's Gosford Park . He appeared in the 2002 film The Bourne Identity . In 2003, he reteamed with director Mike Hodges in I'll Sleep When I'm Dead . He starred in Beyond Borders as well as King Arthur in King Arthur , for which he learned to ride a horse.

He appeared in the Royal National Theatre debut of the hit play Closer , by Patrick Marber, which was produced as a film in 2004. He played Dan in the play, and played Larry in the film version. His portrayal of Larry in the film received very favourable reviews, as well as the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He noted that the expectations of him since the Oscar nomination have not changed the way he approaches film-making, stating "I try, every film I do, to be as good as I can and that's all I can do." ^[7]

Owen at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

After Closer, he appeared in Derailed alongside Jennifer Aniston, the comic book thriller Sin City as the noir antihero Dwight McCarthy and as a mysterious bank robber in Inside Man . Despite public denials, Owen had been rumoured to be a possible successor to Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond. A public opinion poll in the United Kingdom in October 2005 by SkyNews found that he was the public's number one choice to star in the next instalment of the series. In that same month, however, it was announced that fellow British actor Daniel Craig would become the next James Bond. In an interview in the September 2007 issue of Details , he claimed that he was not offered or approached concerning the role. ^[8]

In 2006, Owen spoofed the Bond connection by making an appearance in the remake of The Pink Panther in which he plays a character named "Nigel Boswell, Agent 006" (when he introduces himself to Inspector Clouseau, he quips that Owen's character is "one short of the big time").^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2006, Owen starred in Children of Men . ^[9] The film was nominated for various awards, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Owen worked on the screenplay, although he was uncredited. ^[10] The next year he starred alongside Paul Giamatti in the film Shoot 'Em Up and appeared as Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I of England in the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age . He appeared in the Christmas special of the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant show Extras .

Owen starred in The International (2009), a film which he described as a "paranoid political thriller". ^[11] He played the lead in The Boys Are Back , ^[12] an Australian adaptation of the book The Boys Are Back in Town by Simon Carr.

In June 2010, it was announced that Owen and Nicole Kidman would star in an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn entitled Hemingway & Gellhorn . James Gandolfini served as executive producer to the film, written by Barbara Turner and Jerry Stahl. The film was directed by Philip Kaufman ^[13] and released in 2012. Owen played the lead in Shadow Dancer , ^[14] a joint UK/Ireland production about a young mother who is involved with Irish republicanism. It co-starred Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, and Aidan Gillen, and was directed by James Marsh. In April 2010, he was cast as the lead in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's horror-thriller Intruders . ^[15]

Owen starred in the film Blood Ties , directed by Guillaume Canet, alongside French actress Marion Cotillard. It was released in June 2013 at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In 2015, Owen made his Broadway debut in a revival of Harold Pinter's Old Times at the American Airlines Theatre. ^[16] He was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2016 Berlin Film Festival.

In October 2017, Owen returned to Broadway as Rene Gallimard in a revival of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly at the Cort Theatre in New York City. ^[17]

In 2019, Owen played the role of the defrocked Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon in the West End theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana at the Noël Coward Theatre. ^[18] Also in 2019, he played Dovidl Rapaport in The Song of Names. ^[19] He played Bill Clinton in the miniseries Impeachment: American Crime Story .

Personal life

Owen met his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton, in 1988, when they were in a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Young Vic Theatre in London. They began dating shortly after and married in March 1995.

Owen became a patron of the Electric Palace Cinema in Harwich, Essex, and launched an appeal for funds to repair deteriorating elements of the historic building. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Owen is a supporter of Liverpool FC ^[23] and narrated the fly on the wall documentary series Being: Liverpool . ^[24]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Vroom	Jake	film debut
1991	Close My Eyes	Richard
1993	Century	Paul Reisner
1995	The Turnaround	Nick Sharman
1996	The Rich Man's Wife	Jake Golden
1997	Bent	Max
1998	Croupier	Jack Manfred
2000	Greenfingers	Colin Briggs
2001	Ambush	The Driver	1st season of The Hire short film series for BMW
	Chosen
	The Follow
	Star
	Powder Keg
	Gosford Park	Robert Parks
2002	The Bourne Identity	The Professor
	Hostage	The Driver	2nd season of The Hire short film series for BMW
	Ticker
	Beat the Devil
2003	I'll Sleep When I'm Dead	Will
	Beyond Borders	Nick Callahan
2004	King Arthur	Arthur
	Closer	Larry Gray
2005	Sin City	Dwight McCarthy
	Derailed	Charles Schine
2006	The Pink Panther	Nigel Boswell/Agent 006	uncredited
	Inside Man	Dalton Russell
	Children of Men	Theo Faron
2007	Shoot 'Em Up	Smith
	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	Sir Walter Raleigh
2009	The International	Louis Salinger
	Duplicity	Ray Koval
	The Boys Are Back	Joe Warr
2010	Trust	Will
2011	Killer Elite	Spike
	Intruders	John Farrow
2012	Shadow Dancer	Mac
2013	Blood Ties	Chris
	Words and Pictures	Jack Marcus
2015	Last Knights	Raiden
2016	The Confirmation	Walt
	The Escape	The Driver	3rd season of The Hire short film series for BMW
2017	Killer in Red	Floyd	Short film
	Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets	Commander Arun Filitt
2018	Ophelia	Claudius
	Anon	Sal Frieland
2019	Gemini Man	Clay Varris
	The Song of Names	Dovidl
	The Informer	Keith Montgomery
2020	Romantic Guide to Lost Places	Benno
2025	Cleaner	TBA	Post-production [25]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Rockliffe's Babies	PC Parslew	Television debut Episode: "Up the Down Escalator"
1988	Boon	Geoff	Episode: "Peacemaker"
1989	Precious Bane	Gideon Sarn	Television film
1990	Lorna Doone	John Ridd	Television film
1990–1991	Chancer	Derek Love/Stephen Crane	Series regular; 20 episodes
1993	Class of '61	Devin O'Neil	Television film
	The Magician	Detective Conservative George Byrne	Television film
1994	Nobody's Children	Corneliu Bratu	Television film
	An Evening with Gary Lineker	Bill	Television film
	Doomsday Gun	Dov	Television film
	The Return of the Native	Damon Wildeve	Television film
1995–1996	Screen Two	Paul/Diggory Venn	2 episodes
1996	Sharman	Nick Sharman	Series regular; 4 episodes
1998	The Echo	Deacon	Television miniseries; 2 episodes
1999	Split Second	Michael Anderson	Television film
	Second Sight	DCI Ross Tanner	Television film
2000	Second Sight: Parasomnia		Television film
	Second Sight: Kingdom of the Blind		Television film
	Second Sight: Hide and Seek		Television film
2007	Extras	Himself	Episode: "The Extra Special Series Finale"
	Hypnose homee		Television short
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Ernest Hemingway	Television film
	Being: Liverpool	Narrator	Episode: "Silver Shovel"
2014–2015	The Knick	Dr. John W. Thackery	Series regular; 20 episodes
2020	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself	Episode: "Insufficient Praise"
2021	Lisey's Story	Scott Landon	Main cast; 8 episodes
	Impeachment: American Crime Story	Bill Clinton	Main cast; 10 episodes
2023	A Murder at the End of the World	Andy Ronson	Main cast
2024	Monsieur Spade	Sam Spade	Lead role [26] [27]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Venue	Ref.
1991	The Philanderer	Mr Joseph Cuthbertson	Brian Cox	Hampstead Theatre, London
	The Doctor's Dilemma	Unknown	James Maxwell	Royal Exchange Theatre
1994	Design for Living	Alfred Lunt	Sean Mathias	Donmar Warehouse, London	[28]
1997	Closer	Dan	Patrick Marber	Royal National Theatre, London	[29]
2001	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg	Bri	Laurence Boswell	New Ambassadors Theatre, London	[30]
2015	Old Times	Deeley	Douglas Hodge	American Airlines Theatre, Broadway	[31]
2017	M. Butterfly	Rene Gallimard	Julie Taymor	Cort Theatre, Broadway	[32]
2019	The Night of the Iguana	Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon	James Macdonald	Noël Coward Theatre, West End	[33]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Privateer 2: The Darkening	Lev Arris	Live-action cutscenes

Producer

Year	Title	Notes
2009	The Boys Are Back	Feature film; executive producer
2014–2015	The Knick	20 episodes; executive producer
2024	Monsieur Spade	6 episodes; executive producer

Soundtracks

Year	Title	Notes	Song
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Television film	"Tutti Mi Chiamano Bionda"

Awards and nominations

Owen has received multiple nominations for his work in both film and television. He has one Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Larry in Closer (2004), three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one in 2005 for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in Closer; his other two nominations are for his roles in television including made-for-television film Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) for Best Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, and drama series The Knick (2014) for Best Lead Actor in a Television Series – Drama, one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for his performance in Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations – winning one in 2002 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture for his performance in Gosford Park (2002).^{[ citation needed ]}

Year	Title	Accolade	Results
2002	Gosford Park	Critics' Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble	Won
		Florida Film Critics Circle Award, Best Ensemble Cast	Won
		Online Film Critics Society Award, Best Ensemble	Won
		Phoenix Film Critics Society Award, Best Acting Ensemble	Nominated
		Satellite Award, Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture	Won
		Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture	Won
2004	Closer	Boston Society of Film Critics Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Golden Schmoes Award, Best Supporting Actor of the Year	Nominated
		National Board of Review Award, Best Acting by an Ensemble	Won
		New York Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Seattle Film Critics Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Toronto Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
2005		Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		British Academy Film Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Critics' Choice Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Critics' Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble	Nominated
		Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Won
		International Cinephile Society Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Italian Online Movie Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
		London Critics' Circle Film Award, British Actor of the Year	Nominated
		Online Film & Television Association Award, Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Online Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Satellite Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Nominated
		Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
2006	Sin City	Critics' Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble	Nominated
	Children of Men	Golden Schmoes Award, Best Actor of the Year	Nominated
	Sin City	MTV Movie + TV Award, Best Kiss (shared with Rosario Dawson )	Nominated
2007	Inside Man Children of Men	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award, Actor of the Year	Won
	Children of Men	Italian Online Movie Award, Best Lead Actor	Nominated
		Russian National Movie Award, Best Foreign Actor of the Year	Nominated
	Shoot 'Em Up	Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical	Nominated
	Children of Men	Saturn Award, Best Lead Actor	Nominated
2008	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	Russian National Movie Award, Best Foreign Actor of the Year	Nominated
2010	The Boys Are Back	Australian Film Institute Award, Best Lead Actor	Nominated
2012	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Nominated
		Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Nominated
2013	—	Golden Camera Award, Best International Actor	Won
	Hemingway & Gellhorn	Golden Globe Award, Best Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries	Nominated
2014	The Knick	IGN Summer Movie Award, Best Television Actor	Nominated
	—	Russian National Movie Award, Best Foreign Actor of the Decade	Nominated
	The Knick	Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Series – Drama	Won
2015		Golden Globe Award, Best Lead Actor in a Television Series – Drama	Nominated
2016		Critics' Choice Television Award, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
		Online Film & Television Association Award, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
2022	Impeachment: American Crime Story	Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated

References

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External links

• Clive Owen at IMDb
• Clive Owen at the BFI 's Screenonline