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.

Children don't need much advice but they really do need to be listened to and not just with half an ear.

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

I'm a big action junkie. I grew up on the '80s action movies - the bad ones and the good ones.