Clive Owen

Belfast during the Troubles looked like a different world.

As a teenager I was crazy about David Bowie. He was a huge inspiration for me. I dressed a little bit crazily in school and dyed my hair every colour under the sun.

I think I am more attracted to characters with a subtext, whatever that is and they don't necessarily have to be virtuous, but they have to at least be human.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.

My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.

I just had an idea that went right over my head.