Clive Owen

There's something to play if there's conflict going on. Whatever that conflict is, that's where drama is; if the character is grappling with something you've got something to play, there's layers to it.

I think it's dangerous to get into ideas of planning careers.

I've had some great times with actresses, but that's in a movie.

Ultimately, to have a career in movies, to a certain extent, certainly in England, you can't sustain a career in just English movies.

One of the things I'm most proud of about my career is the fact I've managed to keep options open.

The worst piece of advice I've gotten in my whole career is from somebody who said, 'Remember, it's all about likeability.'

It's just lovely to be involved in a movie that does go back to the basics - characters and great writing.

You go back to those films of the '40s and '50s and hear the dialogue, the way the people played off each other - the wordplay. I think we've really lost that in movies.

Very often when you see families it's all perfect and neat, and parenting isn't like that. You do have constant negotiations. Things are ever developing and ever changing, and you constantly have to evaluate how you deal with your kids.

I was not a very fearful kid, really.

If you are making a script based on a book it can be frustrating going back to the source novel, because you're turning the story into a totally different thing; the narrative of film is different from that of a book.

Belfast during the Troubles looked like a different world.