| Clive Owen’s Inner 007 Shoots ‘Em Up |
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 Despite what you may think from his films, Clive Owen loves "living in a gun-free environment as long may it continue"  Italian screen siren Monica Bellucci is generally considered one of the most beautiful women in cinema today  Owen as Mr. Smith and Bellucci as the pregnant hooker DQ in "Shoot 'Em Up"  Clive Owen dodging more explosions in Alfonso Cuarón's critically-acclaimed 2006 film "Children of Men"  Owen and Bellucci get behind director Michael Davis on set  Paul Giamatti as Mr. Hertz foolishly challenges Mr. Smith in "Shoot 'Em Up" CO: Pretty weird. It was always better having the real thing there. The real babies were cast before they were born. She was pregnant with twins. Q: What pressures did you find in shooting the action scenes? CO: It’s weird. When you are shooting action, there is a satisfying thing because your objectives are very clear. You are moving very fast and you [just] do it. It’s not like carrying a film with five pages of dialogue and how you deliver them is going to nuance the whole film. It’s a physical movie. The most important thing is delivering action. It sets itself up. It will be a great ride. Michael Davis has put together some wicked action sequences. Q: Do you think there'll be a Mr. Smith action figure? CO: It would obviously include plenty of guns. Q: What kind of a back-story did you come up with for the character to help you get into his head? CO: None whatsoever. It’s like you don’t get to find out where he’s from or what he’s done. The important thing is the guy is going to deliver on action. I’m sure if there is a another one, Michael will come up with all of that. There is no point making a load of stuff up. Q: There is alot of humanity in this film. Is that important for you in a film like this? CO: There is, of course. Ultimately it’s the action and humor that sold it for me. That’s why I wanted to do it. The film has firmly got its tongue in its cheek. For me it was about delivering wicked action and humor. Q: You are in a wild love scene with one of Italy’s most revered sex symbols, Monica Bellucci. What was that like? CO: Work, work, work. Oh, the pressures. It was one of the wittiest things on the animation he did. It was like, wow. He tried to keep as close to it but it was physically impossible. Q: Did it take much acting skill to maintain certain things? CO: Easy, easy. It’s actually a big shoot-out scene. So you’re talking enormous amounts of rehearsals, working out, and making sure physically it’s possible. Then there are 25 people in the room. It was a big action sequence really. Q: What were you thinking when you heard Monica Bellucci was attached to the film? CO: When he told me he was going to cast Monica Bellucci, I said that lead's perfect, she’s beautiful, she’s a great actress, and has a wicked sense of humor. Q: How do you take on the role of the angriest guy in the world? CO: Michael Davis was always asking me to be angrier. I would have toned it down a bit. They were all his pet peeves. I could relate to some of them... but ponytails? He’s a strange guy. Q: You don’t strike me as an angry guy. CO: I’m not angry, no. Q: What does make you angry? CO: Rudeness can make me angry. Q: You have done films with important content, such as "Children of Men" and "Beyond Borders;"--do you have an interest in doing more of these kind of pictures? CO: I knew "Children of Men" was ambitious. It was a film set in the future, but tackling the real big issues of today. [Director Alfonso Cuarón] wanted to jump ahead to look back and say we have to be careful. The key issues were immigration, environment, and terrorism. They are incredibly important issues right now and that’s why I wanted to do that movie. He had a vision. It doesn’t always have to be about something though. Q: With "Sin City" and this film you have played two iconic action characters. Do you enjoy playing characters that are action-figure quality? CO: I try to do as many different things possible. I think one of the things that is most satisfying about my career is that the last three films are so different. The last three films you couldn’t compare any of those films. They’re wildly different. I went from "Children of Men" to doing this and then to "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." I have never done an all-action [movie]. I thought it would be cool to do that [this time.] It was fun and I wanted to do a crazy action-packed film that had great, wickedly conceived shoot-outs. Q: Why did you want to do "Elizabeth: The Golden Age?" You play Sir Walter Raleigh who had a strong relationship with Queen Elizabeth I [Cate Blanchett]. CO: It was a lovely thing. I was a fan of the original movie ["Elizabeth"] and they all came back. It was a pleasure. Q: Are you doing anything more with Frank Miller? CO: I got the rights to [detective noir novelist] Raymond Chandler’s character Philip Marlowe. Frank’s involved with me. We thought it too dangerous to do one of the big ones. The last thing I need is to be compared to Humphrey Bogart. We’re doing a short story, "Trouble is My Business." We are going to expand it a bit. I got Frank involved because he is a noir obsessive and he adores those Chandler books and he would be great to be involved in the writing because he’ll make it relevant, he’ll bring it up to date, and give it a necessary edge. But he will be incredibly faithful to the source material because he adores it so much. |
