An Interview with Clive Owen on the film Shoot 'Em Up

It's no surprise to see Clive Owen hefting a gun around in a movie. Heck, he was first recognized by moviegoers as an assassin aiming a rifle at Jason Bourne in the first installment of the Bourne series. The shocker is seeing him play a shoot 'em up, knock 'em down, drag out gun-slinging, carrot-eating hero of all things. Okay, so in Children of Men he was responsible for saving a newborn, and in Sin City he was a hero with a gun, too.

Aside from the minute references to those other films, Shoot 'Em Up is a whole new era for 42-year-old Owen. If the box office boasts well on the first, it could become his very own 'Bond' series, though Owen doesn't see it that way.

The writer and director Michael Davis, being a Bond fan since he was a kid, does see it as an homage to Bond and action flicks as a whole. He sold the movie to a trio of producers by constructing an animated video of scenes he had in his head. The transformation to film barrels on screen with an enraged Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti) and his heavies chasing down the baby safeguarded by the mysterious, gun-slinging Mr. Smith, who is even angrier. It's not the usual shoot 'em up flick. It has a lactating hooker named DQ (Monica Belucci), a spoof on Dairy Queen, her and Smith get it on in the middle of bullet flying, and a gun fight ensues in mid air after jumping out of a helicopter.

Q: When you figured out how to eat a carrot did you have the character nailed?

A: The challenge of the movie was to try and make carrots cool. It was a quirk I never understood. It's part of Michael Davis and how insane he is. I had to try and make carrots a cool vegetable. At least it's healthy, organic.

Q: Did you come up with any new imaginative ways to use carrots?

A: Easy tiger, easy tiger.

Q: This is a send up of Clive Owen on certain levels. Did you feel that was the case? Did you enjoy it?

A: Oh yeah. But the whole film is a crazy send up to everything. That's why I wanted to do the movie. It was how funny it was. I thought it was fresh and crazy and funny. Even the action is funny, it's physically funny. The twists and turns, it had wit to it, and this big physical character. It's a gag. That's why I wanted to do the film.

Q: There is an underlying James Bond theme here. So many fans thought you should have been the next Bond. Did you have any moments where you thought you could make a jab at Bond?

A: No. Michael is a complete Bond fanatic. He is crazy about the Bond movies. I saw this as a complete separate stand alone thing. It's his crazy version of an action film. Nothing relates to Bond, really.

Q: In Children of Men the violence is realistic and in this and Sin City it's extremely exaggerated. Are you particular about the type of violence portrayed in a movie you are in?

A: That what it is and that's why I justify the violence all the way. Because anyone who says they have a problem with the violence I say, look it has nothing to do with violence in the real world. It's Tom and Jerry violence. It's so not related to real violence. I would see other films and I would question violence portrayed in certain movies. But this is the same as Sin City. It is hyper-real. It has nothing to do with my real life.

Q: You have played many gun-wielding characters. Why do you think you choose to play or directors cast you as a character toting guns around?

A: I don't know. I must look like I'm capable of shooting people (laughs), which is a little bit worrying.

Q: Are you're a skilled shooter?

A: Only through making movies and going to the firing range for a part. I live in London and I love living in a gun free environment and long may it continue.

Q: What was your favorite and most challenging action sequence?

A: The most challenging was the sky diving because it was wild day after day after day and tough physically. The car chase was my favorite because it was a brilliantly conceived action sequence and ends with a great catch.

Q: Were there any opportunities to improvise?

A: There was not much room because it was all so wild and wacky and so original. We did need extra scenes and other people tempted to write something and didn't even come close. We went to Michael and he would come back with something so twisted and weird and wonderful. I thought, my god there is only one guy who understands this world and that's him. So I wouldn't dare try to improvise.

Q: This your second film protecting babies. Is this your new version of a modern dad?

A: It's the fact that I deliver two babies on camera as well that is weird.

Q: Is this a metaphor for our times?

A: We must be worrying about the future in some way. There is only one where I was being shot at, at the same time.

Q: Having two kids of your own, did it make you rethink your paternal instincts?

A: No.

Q: Did being a father help you?

A: Yeah, I'm sure it did in certain scenes. I was there for the birth of my two girls. Obviously I use that. I am comfortable around babies and children because I have two of my own.

Q: What was it like working with a remote control baby?

A: 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: In this film and Children of Men you got your protagonist going through heighten realties. What work do you have to do to get your character into those environments?

A: They're very different. Shoot 'Em Up is straightforward. It's an action film and you don't know much about the guy. You know ultimately when the action kicks in, he is going to deliver. He is a mysterious, contained figure. With Children of Men, he's a very different challenge. You have to embody an overwhelming sadness of the state of the world.

Q: What pressures did you find shooting action scenes?

A: It's weird. When you are shooting action, there is a satisfying thing because you're objectives are very clear. You are moving very fast and you 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: How do you take on the role of the angriest guy in the world?

A: 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?

A: I'm not angry, no.

Q: What makes you angry?

A: 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 those types of films?

A: I knew Children of Men was ambitious. It was a film set in the future, but tackling the real big issues of today. He (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 incredible 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: Sin City and this are two iconic action characters. Do you enjoy action figure quality characters?

A: 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 Children of Men to this and then to Golden Age. I have never done an all action [movie]. I thought it would be cool to do that. It was fun and I wanted to do a crazy action packed film that had great wickedly conceived shoot outs.

Q: Why Golden Age?

A: It was a lovely thing. I was a fan of the original movie and they all came back. It was a pleasure.

Q: Are you looking forward to the possible release of a Mr. Smith action figure?

A: 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?

A: None what so ever. 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 a level of humanity in this film. Is that important for you to a do a film like this?

A: 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 Belucci. What was that like?

A: 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 a certain acting skill to maintain certain things?

A: Easy, easy. It's actually a big shoot out scene. So you're talking enormous amouts 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 Belucci was attached to the film?

A: When he told me he was going to cast Monica Belucci, I said that leads perfect, she's beautiful, she's a great actress, and has a wicked sense of humor.

Q: Are you doing anything more with Frank Miller?

A: I got the rights to Chandler's 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.