Clive Owen Interview, The Boys are Back

Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Clive Owen takes on a new role that’s distinctly different and more intimate compared to the dangerous guys he usually plays. MoviesOnline sat down with the British actor last week to talk about his new movie, “The Boys Are Back,” based on the acclaimed 2001 memoir by Simon Carr. The film is an unflinchingly funny and honest recounting of his journey from grieving husband to full-contact fatherhood in the aftermath of profound loss. Shot on location in the stunning countryside of South Australia, Academy Award nominee Scott Hicks (“Shine”) directed from a screenplay by Allan Cubitt. Owen, stars as well as serves as executive producer on the film.

Inspired by a true story, “The Boys Are Back” is a deeply moving, wryly confessional tale of fatherhood that intimately evokes both the fragility and wonders of family life. The film follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter (Owen) who, in the wake of his wife’s tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood. With turbulent emotions swirling just below the surface, Joe Warr throws himself into the only child-rearing philosophy he thinks has a shot at bringing joy back into their lives:  “just say yes.” Raising two boys – a curious six year-old (Nicholas McAnulty) and a rebel teen (George MacKay) from a previous marriage -- in a household devoid of feminine influence, and with an unabashed lack of rules, life becomes exuberant, instinctual, reckless . . . and on the constant verge of disaster.
 
United by unspoken love, conflicted by fierce feelings and in search of a road forward, the three multi-generational boys of the Warr household, father and sons alike, must each find their own way, however tenuous, to grow up.  Their story is not just about the transforming power of a family crisis -- but the unavoidable grace of everyday life and love that gets them through.  
 
Clive Owen is a terrific actor and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about “The Boys Are Back”:

Q: What drew you to this movie?

CLIVE OWEN: It’s the same thing every time. It was a really good script and Scott Hicks. They were the two things. I was very affected by the script when I read it for the first time. It was very beautifully written – a very, very honest exploration of parenting from a guy’s perspective. It was just very full and very emotional and I thought Scott was the perfect person to direct it. You know, he’s got a sensitivity and an intelligence and a delicacy. This was a very intimate film and it demanded that, because two of the three main characters were children and you need someone with patience and understanding. So, that was why I wanted to do it.

Q: When you’re developing a film where the children are a critical part of the story, how important is it as an actor to develop that bond on set with them?

CLIVE OWEN: It’s everything. I mean, the first conversation ever about the film with Scott, I said, “You find a great young boy. That’s a big step forward to a good film.” It’s like it’s crucial. Even if he’s very good but a couple scenes he doesn’t quite – the film rests and falls on you believing him and believing that relationship with me through the movie. So, I made sure I got out there very early. I spent time with him away from everybody. I took him to safari parks and fun fairs and away from his parents, away from the film crew, so that whatever happens during the film – because some of the film is quite tough between us – that he trusted me and that he’d always come back to the place where “I’m okay with Clive.” Like, even if we’d just done a scene that’s a little unusual, I knew that it was important that he was safe with me so I had to put that time in.

Q: After putting that much effort into it, was there any resistance from him or was he really open?

CLIVE OWEN: No. Yeah, he’s an intelligent, open kid. I mean, for sure, it was important that I did that. I wouldn’t have liked to have turned up and just gone “Hi” and then tried to make a film. It did take a bit of time. I mean, it always takes time with kids, you know, for them to trust you. So, it was very necessary. But no, once we started making the film, he’s very, very bright and there were never any problems.

Q: One of the things I really liked about it was the relationship between you and your elder son (played by George MacKay) -- that whole abandonment thing and reconnecting after that. How hard was that to get into?

CLIVE OWEN: He’s a fine actor. He’s a seriously good actor. I was really, really impressed with him. There’s no accident with what he’s doing. He’s very skilled beyond his years. He just brought in – he’s a very full actor even when he’s not speaking. There’s a lot going on and him coming into that film at that point, I just felt when I saw him and saw what he was doing -- he’d be moving without really doing much, just him watching me and the other little one relate -- you’d feel the history of what he’d missed. So, I just think he was a great find really for the film. I was hugely impressed with him.

Q: There are some very heartbreaking moments. How hard was it as an actor to find the place you had to go emotionally in this film?

CLIVE OWEN: Well, it helps that I find it so upsetting as an idea – some of it, you know. To explain to my little boy that his mother might not be around for much longer, I find very upsetting just as an idea. It’s tragic and devastating. I’ve got two girls so the idea of that conversation is just haunting. So that’s it really. I can relate to it. That’s what it comes to. And then, when you come to do it, it’s about concentration and putting yourself in the place, but ultimately it’s because I understand and relate and see how sad that would be.

Q: Can you talk about how you prepared for the very emotional scenes?

CLIVE OWEN: I found it very upsetting anyway. I found the scenes very moving just reading them. So, really it was just concentration. It was just making sure that you take the time and you concentrate very hard.

Q: What was the biggest challenge?

CLIVE OWEN: The biggest challenge really was the relationship with Nick. That was the biggest challenge in a way – to make sure that smelled real, that felt real, and had an openness and you believed it through all the ups and downs, through the tougher scenes, through the funner scenes, it was life. Making sure that that belief and that bond looked and felt real and that people would believe was, for me, the biggest challenge.

Q: On that point, we were talking with Scott earlier about how this very easily could have moved into Movie of the Week territory in the wrong hands, both in terms of who is behind and in front of the camera. Can you talk a little bit more about how you all worked to keep that honest?

CLIVE OWEN: Of course. It was something that I was very passionate about from the beginning, just to avoid the sentimentality and I had great faith. It was really interesting exploring the tougher elements, when things weren’t going well, when the little boy has his big tantrum and you don’t know how to bring him out of it, because all parents relate to that. We’ve all been there. We’re not bad parents because of it. It’s just that’s what happens and there was something very human and understandable about it to me. As you say, there are endless versions of this where mommy’s going to die very soon and we weep and we hug.

Q: Cue the violins.

CLIVE OWEN: Yeah, cue the violins. Or scenes where he has a little grump, it’s not that serious and I don’t get that and we come back together. It’s not like that. Parenting is much more volatile. It’s up and down and around and it doesn’t, you know… So, I wanted to do that in a sort of fearless way because I knew people would relate to it.

Q: You mentioned that working with Scott was one of the things that attracted you to doing this film. Looking over your filmography, you’ve been very careful about working with some amazing directors. The guy who gave you your first big break is one of my heroes and I think an inherently great director, Mike Hodges, who you worked with twice. Can you talk about Mike Hodges and that experience?

CLIVE OWEN: Mike Hodges is a great friend. His little film, Croupier, which was the film that changed my career and the whole movie thing for me really. He’s one of the most underrated directors out there. You know, it’s crazy because he’s very original, skilled, but he’s fiercely independent and does things his own way. But no, he’s great. I know that working with him was a key change in my career.

Q: Two other directors you worked with that are no longer with us – John Frankenheimer and Robert Altman – can you talk a bit about them?

CLIVE OWEN: I got on fantastically well with both of them. You know, Frankenheimer was such a great character and a really great director. We were actually talking about doing stuff when he passed away. We had a conversation about working together again and we got on so well. And Altman was arguably one of the best directors there has even been – his knowledge of film, his ability to straggle endless story lines in one film so effortlessly and make it look so easy was so deceptive. He was quite brilliant in terms of the way he made his films, but he made it look easy. I’ve worked with directors where you put more than four people in a room and they’re struggling to cover it. He can have 20 storylines and make it look like it’s the easiest thing. He was really an amazing talent.

Q: I heard people likened him to an orchestra conductor the way he worked.

CLIVE OWEN: Yes, that’s exactly it. Some of those big scenes, it was like putting music together the way he was throwing things in to make it richer and richer and more and more layered. He was a great man.

Q: What’s Scott’s approach like in terms of his relationship with his cast?

CLIVE OWEN: Well, his patience with young Nicholas was the key really because everything was structured around that. He kept the crew very much on their toes, like we could change directions at any point depending on if Nicholas is tired today, you know. It’s a huge demand on a kid of that age to do a movie, being thrown on a movie set, that kind of attention, the kind of demands made of him every day with his lines. So, we kept very loose. Also, in terms of capturing magic, if he suddenly did something that was really interesting or real and alive, we would try and shoot him. There’s a number of stuff in the film that wasn’t really intended. It’s just we were quick to capture it all. He wasn’t quite well when we were filming. And, that demands a real sort of lightness of touch and a huge patience as well and understanding. He’s terribly sensitive, terribly intelligent and I really loved the way he put the whole film together as well.

Q: You mentioned that you have two girls, and this film is from a very male perspective where you have two boys, what do you think the differences would be if you had the situation that we have in this film with two daughters instead of two sons?

CLIVE OWEN: I think the energy levels are very different between boys and girls. My friends who have children the same age as mine who are boys – the energy levels are much higher than girls generally. So I don’t think it would have been quite as volatile in a way. I think girls tend to just be a little calmer.

Q: Would it have been the same kind of film?

CLIVE OWEN: I think it would have been very different. It is an interesting question because I think it would be very different. A guy bringing up two girls, I think it would be easier.

Q: You think so?

CLIVE OWEN: Yeah.

Q: Is that just because of the energy level or is it on a more emotional level?

CLIVE OWEN: No, I don’t know why. I just think very often, especially at certain ages, you look at boys and girls and girls are generally ahead in the maturity stakes in terms of the way they deal with things.

Q: How hard is it to find a good script that’s comparable in caliber to this script?

CLIVE OWEN: Hard.

Q: What do you do to find those?

CLIVE OWEN: Read a lot. It’s just about reading a lot. Then, every now and again, you go “Oh my God, here’s a great one.” That’s what it is. I mean, considering how many films are made and how many scripts are written, it’s rare to come across great scripts. You really notice it when you do. You read a lot and then suddenly you go, “Oh my!” when you suddenly see something of real quality.

Q: Is that the key to longevity in one’s career, do you think, choosing quality over quantity? They’ve certainly tried to type cast you as an action hero after Croupier, and I know you’re known for turning a lot of big projects down in favor of smaller projects that resonate with you more personally.

CLIVE OWEN: I don’t really have a plan in that way. Maybe that’s why… Honestly, if you look at the last few years and then look at the films that I’ve done, that shape is completely unplanned. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. It’s instinct. It’s something that relates to me, something that I want to explore. And, I’m not going to do something because that’s the right kind of thing to do or I should be doing that kind of film. I’m wide open. I’ll do any kind of film if I think I’ve got something to offer to it and I think it resonates and I believe in it and I think it’s worthwhile doing. And then, the career kind of is what it is. You just look at it and go, there’s no plan there. That’s just the way that it’s gone and with this film.  Parenting is a huge part of my life. I’ve got two girls. It’s like, outside of movies, that’s what I do. I bring my girls up and I hang with my girls and here was a chance to explore that fully. And, I’ve never done that so I wanted to do it.

Q: Had you met Simon before starting the project or did you try to wait until afterwards?

CLIVE OWEN: No, I didn’t. I waited until right near the end. I really responded to the script. I loved the memoir but I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to have a physical impression of him – the way he looked, the way he spoke, the way he was because I needed to be free to interpret it. I needed to come into it and I had my own instincts about it and I got enough from the memoir. It was full of his personality. But, I thought it was best to just free interpret rather than get influenced by him.

Q: When asked about you playing him, he said, “He’s what I look like on the inside.” I thought that was pretty funny.

CLIVE OWEN: [Laughs] Yeah.

Q: Were you one of those kids that always knew he was an actor from a very young age?

CLIVE OWEN: No. I knew I wanted to be an actor.

Q: Was there one epiphanous moment that you had?

CLIVE OWEN: My school play. I was cast as the Artful Dodger and from then on I went, “That’s what I want to do.” And, I was lucky. I had a youth theater in my home town, you know, where kids went and did plays. When I was still at school, I joined that and did a whole host of plays.

Q: You grew up outside London in one of the suburbs?

CLIVE OWEN: Yeah.

Q: What did your parents do?

CLIVE OWEN: Well, my stepfather worked for British Rail and my mother was a housewife.

Q: So, would that be solidly middle class in England?

CLIVE OWEN: Solidly working class. (Laughs) Very solidly.

Q: Was that tough being working class aspiring to that?

CLIVE OWEN: Yes. And being from where I was from. It was very because, you know, really the only thing to do eventually, if I really wanted to do it, was get into an accredited drama school, because there was no way from where I came from that I was going to walk into a life in the theater and movies. It was like the plug in was I was hugely fortunate and I applied for the Royal Academy in London and amazingly managed to get a place.

Q: What was the experience of RADA like?

CLIVE OWEN: Amazing. Well, suddenly I’m thrown in with people like me who had the same passion and were all desperate to do it. And then every day was exploring and doing what it is that I love doing. And the last year at RADA you do seven plays, seven productions, seven different parts. You’re working with really the top end sort of teachers of those in that world. And, there is security. Once you leave RADA, you’ve got to get cast in something. You knew you’d get cast in something when you were there. It was a comfortable place to explore everything that you loved so it was a great time.

Q: So it was something that gave you great grounding for the future?

CLIVE OWEN: It was. There’s something about doing theater and doing lots of different parts that really does give you grounding. It was very good training.

Q: What would you like an audience to take away from this film?

CLIVE OWEN: The impressive thing about all the advance screenings is that people have been very moved. There have been a lot of tears. People get very moved by it -- but everyone for different reasons. It’s not like there’s that one big scene that everyone finds. The weirdest things are triggering people and I suppose it depends on your experience. Have you lost somebody? Have you separated? Did your parents divorce? Have you been estranged from your kids? Whatever it is that’s been big in your life, you will connect to and go “Gosh, I’ve been there. I’ve been there.” And everybody comes out having been moved by something different. That’s very rewarding because I do think it’s a very full film. And, it’s not heavy handed in its exploration. It’s not manipulative, but there are endless points of recognition for people with it.

Q: What’s the weirdest point of recognition that you’ve heard?

CLIVE OWEN: The weirdest? None of it is weird, you know, because people have talked about recently losing someone and then, you know, people have talked about … None of it’s weird. All of it’s understandable.

Q: Can you talk about your role as executive producer on this? How did that feel and what did it involve?

CLIVE OWEN: It was to do with…I took four years to get the film going and a lot of work on the script. Scott and I were very collaborative and we were both trying to make the same film. And, it was really just to add some protection to that, to make sure that through all of this -- getting the film up and going and the honing of the script -- that it was an added protection, that we could keep faithful to the film that we were trying to make. You know, I would never do a producing credit just for a vanity exercise because there’s no point. But, it does give you an extra standing when the script’s being discussed with people that are putting the money in or whatever. It just gives you an extra position. So, it was to protect that really and just to acknowledge that I was literally there from the very start, from the first time we started talking about making the film.

Q: Is being a producer something that you might like to continue with, even producing films that you don’t necessarily star in?

CLIVE OWEN: As long as it wasn’t a vanity, as long as I wasn’t just throwing my name around. It’s to do with whether I think it’s necessary. But, certainly there are a few projects that I’m sort of in development with that I would be a producer on. But, I wouldn’t do it just out of putting my name there. It would have to mean something…

Q: Material that you want to see brought to life?

CLIVE OWEN: Yeah.

Q: Did you daughters come to visit you on set when you were on location?

CLIVE OWEN: Yes, they came to Australia. They had an amazing time in Australia – one of their best times ever. It was really extraordinary. We were in a beautiful place and it was a real adventure.

Q: How do you balance you career and your family life?

CLIVE OWEN: I think it’s just if I go away for a long time to make a film I make sure I stay at home then for an equally long time. I just make sure that I never do too much away and I always balance it with some serious fun time as well.

Q: What are you working on right now?

CLIVE OWEN: I’m not sure. There are a few things floating around but I haven’t actually fully committed to anything yet. So, I’m looking at scripts.

“The Boys Are Back” opens in theaters on September 25th.