It seems as if Clive Owen was forever the object of speculation as a possible successor to Pierce Brosnan as the next James Bond. Never mind that Owen didn’t appear all that interested in playing Bond – he reportedly turned down the role more than once – his name was constantly mentioned in conjunction with 007.
Thankfully, Daniel Craig put those rumors to rest with Casino Royale, and Owen can now focus on what he does best – quietly stealing the show in films like Croupier, Gosford Park and Closer.
His latest movie, Children of Men, presents a dystopian vision of the future in which the entire world’s population has inexplicably gone infertile. Part sci-fi/fantasy, part political thriller, it’s from the mind of acclaimed director Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu mama tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).
Owen plays Theo, a man he describes as “apathetic, cynical, depressed, drunk, sad – overwhelming sadness was the thing. That’s not usually the sort of lead character of a movie…Theo sort of embodies the loss of hope.”
Not your typical action hero, to say the least.
“It’s a highly unusual lead character for a movie of this size,” says Owen, “because the first half of the movie the guy doesn’t even want to be there. The guy’s dragged into the movie. He’s very reluctant.”
When Cuaron first approached him for the role, Owen was hesitant. “When he first sent me the script, I wasn’t sure about the part,” says Owen. “I didn’t quite know why he wanted me to do it. It’s a highly unusual lead part. If you look at that character…It’s not the kind of part where you can sort of do your thing as an actor in a way.”
Cuaron’s approach to Children of Men was chaotic and visceral, featuring extra-long takes and lots of hand-held camera work. “His objective about this movie is to keep trying to viscerally put you in the action,” explains Owen, “and the best way of doing that is to keep it as much real-time as possible and to not cut away and not do this sort of manipulative single-single, where you feel you know the sort of territory you’re in – the movie territory.”
A set piece of the film is a mesmerizing 20-minute sequence in which a camera follows Owen as he tumbles through a chaotic war zone. Filled with invisible cuts, it’s made to look like a single, uninterrupted take.
The technically demanding scenes required close collaboration with the camera crew. “The strongest memory from the movie was how closely I had to work with the (camera) operator on those sequences, because we would rehearse for a very, very long time,” says Owen. “It was very painstaking and specific, but then when we come to shoot it, it has to feel like we’re catching it on the run. You’ve got to feel like you’re in the thick of it.”
“They’re very adrenalized, those sequences, because there’s huge resets,” adds Owen. “Some of those big ones are four, five-hour resets to try and go again for a take like that. So everybody is very adrenalized, gearing up to go in for one of those takes, and there’s something just a bit magical.”
Owen believes that Cuaron’s bleak view of the future envisaged in Children of Men isn’t all that far-fetched. “He’s actually using a film set 30 years in the future as an excuse to talk about present worries, concerns, and fears that we all have,” says Owen. “It’s an incredibly relevant vision of the future because he’s really looking ahead and saying, ‘If we’re not careful, this is where things could be going.’”
“I don’t think the film is that futuristic,” adds Owen. “If you look at the opening scene, my character walks into a café, walks outside, and a bomb goes off. That’s the world we’re in. That’s not futuristic. That’s incredibly relevant.”
Children of Men opens Christmas 2006.
Check out ReelzChannel.com's Children of Men page for clips from the film and more!