Clive Owen: I was never on Bond radar

[Blowfeld]

(Cover) - EN Movies - Clive Owen has joked he was only considered for James Bond was because he wore a tuxedo in a previous film.

The 46-year-old was believed to be a shoo-in for the role after Pierce Brosnan left the franchise in 2004.

However, Clive insists that he was never considering the part.

“It was never on the radar,” he explained to British newspaper The Independent. “There was nothing to it. I'd done a film, Croupier, where I'd worn a tuxedo and there was nothing more than that."

The rumours persisted and in 2006, Owen spoofed the Bond connection by making an appearance in a remake of The Pink Panther in which he played a character named Nigel Boswell, Agent 006.

The role of James Bond eventually went to Daniel Craig who has completed two Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and is signed on for a third.

In recent years Clive has started to focus more on action. His latest movie, Killer Elite sees him playing a villain up against action man Jason Statham.

The film required Clive to take part in a number of fight scenes.

“I approach those scenes like every other kind of scene in a movie,” he explained. “I quite enjoy them. You have to act in them, in the same way that you have to in dialogue scenes; you have to be convincing and show that the stakes are high.”

Killer Elite premieres in theatres worldwide from today.