Oscar-nominated actor Clive Owen says he is preparing to work with Ukrainian filmmaker Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi and is in final talks for a new film with a major Italian director, though he declined to name the projects because they are still at an early stage. Owen revealed the news during a roundtable with journalists at the Taormina Film Festival, where he is due to receive an honorary award in the historic Sicilian town.
Owen said the Italian project would shoot in Italy next year and noted that he had previously worked in the country with director Paolo Sorrentino. He praised Sorrentino’s work, including A Great Beauty, but stressed that Sorrentino is not involved in the new film. The actor added that he was impressed by Slaboshpytskyi after seeing the Ukrainian director’s 2014 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner The Tribe and reading the screenplay for his next project. While Slaboshpytskyi has two announced films in development, Occupation and The Tiger, Owen did not confirm which one he will join, saying only that he will be working with the director.
The actor also discussed several other upcoming roles. He will next appear in Stefan Ruzowitzky’s historical thriller Kristallnacht, which revisits the events of the November 1938 pogrom in which Nazi forces destroyed thousands of Jewish-owned shops, businesses and synagogues across Germany and Austria. The film also stars Mélanie Laurent, Bradley James, Steven Berkoff and Alex Pettyfer, and is expected to launch at a festival in the coming months. Owen said he was drawn to the project because of Ruzowitzky’s 2007 film The Counterfeiters and what he described as a strong screenplay. He explained that the film follows a policeman trying to do his job during the night of the attacks while being blocked by superiors and forced to witness horrors he cannot stop.
Owen confirmed that he is also attached to Luke Piotrowski’s horror film Blasphemous and Richard Hughes’ police action drama Scorpion, both of which are in pre-production and expected to begin shooting soon. Reflecting on his career, he said he still feels the same enthusiasm when he reads a great script, even after many years in the industry. He pointed to his recent stage work in David Eldridge’s End at the National Theatre in London as an example of how strong writing can pull him back to projects he had not initially planned to do. Owen said the appeal of acting is that a powerful script or creative idea can still surprise and energize him, reminding him why he entered the profession in the first place.
