From stirring sci-fi movies to unique comic book adaptations, Clive Owen’s best movies and TV shows showcase an eclectic career. Owen’s career on screen began in the late 1980s with guest-starring roles in British television. It wasn’t until the mid-90s that the actor started getting some high-profile roles like the Holocaust drama Bent and the crime thriller Croupier. The latter movie put him on the radar for some bigger projects, soon starring in Best Picture nominees like Gosford Park and action franchises like The Bourne Identity.
There was a time when Owen seemed like he would become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. While he never quite reached that level, his career is filled with incredible roles. He has collaborated with legendary filmmakers like Robert Altman and Spike Lee while also working alongside the likes of Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. Owen’s recent work on television has given him even more acclaim, with plenty of more great projects likely to come.
10 Monsieur Spade (2024)
As Sam Spade
Clive Owen took on one of the most iconic characters in the noir genre in the limited series Monsieur Spade. Created by author Dashiell Hammett, Sam Spade is a private detective character most famous for being played by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. This series imagines Spade (Owen) now living a retired life in France only for a series of murders to lure him back into his life of sleuthing.
Owen fits well into the stoic noir hero role, but also brings more elements to the character than have been seen in other adaptations. The show is seeking to be more than just a retread of the noir stories of the past and Owen’s performance is essential for bringing those layers to a character who is known for being rather surface-level in most cases.
9 The Bourne Identity (2002)
As The Professor
While there was a time when Clive Owen was a favorite to play James Bond, he scored one of his first Hollywood roles in another thrilling spy franchise. Based on the Robert Ludlum novel, The Bourne Identity stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a man who is found floating in the ocean with no memory of who he is. While searching for answers, he realizes he is a highly trained operative and is being hunted by his former agency.
Owen plays The Professor, a fellow operative who is tasked with hunting Bourne down. Though he is a stoic menace for much of the movie, Owen infuses the role with a surprising amount of depth and sorrow when he and his target face each other. The Bourne Identity is a thrilling ride, showing off Damon’s action hero skills and setting the stage for the wonderful Bourne movie franchise that followed.
8 A Murder At The End Of The World (2023)
As Andy Ronson
Clive Owen’s recent work on television has included starring roles, such as Monsieur Spade, as well as roles in larger ensembles, like A Murder at the End of the World. The series stars Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine) as Darby Hart, a young amateur sleuth who comes to a retreat in an isolated Icelandic compound with only a few other select guests. However, when one of those guests dies, Darby must find out who the murderer is before more people.
Among the cast which also includes Harris Dickinson and Alice Braga, Owen is the standout as Andy Ronson, the tech billionaire who has set up this getaway. While the character could have been cartoonish, Owen plays into the grounded tone with a riveting performance. The series is a sharp and fun whodunnit that feels like a more serious version of Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion.
7 American Crime Story: Impeachment (2021)
As President Bill Clinton
Clive Owen has played some memorable characters in his career, but American Crime Story gave him his most iconic figure yet and a daunting task the actor was ready for. The Ryan Murphy anthology series takes a dramatized look at a real-life infamous criminal case in American history. In season 3 of the show, American Crime Story dealt with the Monica Lewinsky scandal with President Bill Clinton (Owen) at the center.
Without really looking or sounding like the former president in real life, Owen finds a way to successfully disappear into the role. He also avoids playing him as a caricature, showcasing the flaws, vulnerabilities, and moments of likability that helped define the man. The season leans into the scandal as well as the way it shaped American politics going forward. It is an entertaining, funny, and powerful story.
6 Gosford Park (2001)
As Robert Parks
Gosford Park
Release Date November 7, 2001
Runtime 137 Minutes
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Michael Gambon
William McCordle
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Kristin Scott Thomas
Sylvia McCordle
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Camilla Rutherford
Isobel McCordle
Clive Owen joined the SAG Award-winning cast of Gosford Park, working alongside true legends while finding a standout role for himself. Gosford Park comes from legendary filmmaker Robert Altman and follows a gathering at a country estate in England in the 1930s. As the servants spend their time working hard to ensure everything is perfect for the occasion and the guests deal with their own secrets and conflicts, a murder disrupts the entire affair.
Owen plays Robert Parks, a valet working for one of the affluent guests. Despite his position, Owen injects the character with a suaveness and a sense of confidence that makes him an alluring part of the ensemble. The movie is a brilliant juggling of characters and storylines with the murder mystery element only adding to the fun later in the story.
5 Sin City (2005)
As Dwight
Clive Owen joined another all-star cast in Robert Rodriguez’s inventive comic book adaptation Sin City. Based on Frank Miller’s series of the same name, Sin City is an anthology movie that tells various tales of the violent, heroic, and vengeful people in the titular city, a seedy place filled with corruption and chaos. Owen leads one of the stories as Dwight, a lone wolf tough guy forced to clean up a mess involving a corrupt cop.
Owen perfectly plays into the elevated noir tone of the movie, playing the ideal hard-boiled anti-hero. He is part of a wonderful cast that includes Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio del Toro, and Jessica Alba to name a few. Sin City is a visually stunning and unique comic book movie that brings the panels of the books right onto the screen for a vivid and wild ride.
4 The Knick (2014-2015)
As Dr. John W. Thackery
While Clive Owen’s movie star status was already fully established, he decided to step onto the small screen for director Steven Soderbergh in the period series The Knick. Set in New York City at the beginning of the 20th century, the medical drama is a fictionalized look at the Knickerbocker Hospital and the doctors who worked there performing new and influential medical procedures. At the center of it all is Dr. John W. Thackery (Owen), the determined head of the surgery staff.
Owen gives a commanding performance as this complex protagonist. Thackery is a brilliant man who demands perfection from those who work with him, but he is also battling his own addictions. The Knick is an unflinching look at the harsh times, complete with the realistic period medical practices that can be quite hard to watch, yet it is still a fascinating and underrated series.
3 Closer (2004)
As Larry Gray
After starring in the play on stage, Clive Owen had the chance to join some of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the movie adaptation of Closer. Based on the play by Patrick Marber, Closer is a bleak look at love through a variety of relationships. Julia Roberts and Jude Law play two strangers who meet and begin an affair behind the backs of their respective partners, played by Owen and Natalie Portman. However, the affairs have long-reaching and brutal impacts on all four people’s lives.
Despite the fact that Owen was the least well-known actor in the ensemble at the time, he scored an Oscar nomination for his performance. He infuses sadness, anger, and spitefulness into the grounded character, delivering some of the most powerful moments in the movie. It is a stirring and complex drama from acclaimed filmmaker Mike Nichols.
2 Inside Man (2006)
As Dalton Russell
Inside Man
Release Date March 24, 2006
Runtime 129 minutes
Despite being behind a mask for the majority of the movie, Clive Owen delivers one of his most memorable performances in Inside Man. The Spike Lee crime movie stars Owen as the leader of a group of thieves who take hostages while robbing a bank in New York City. Denzel Washington plays the hostage negotiator attempting to get the situation resolved without any casualties. However, it soon becomes clear that this is not an ordinary heist.
Owen makes for a terrific antagonist, the kind of criminal who is two steps ahead of everyone else and that the audience wants to see get away with it. Lee makes a movie that feels like a throwback to the crime thrillers of the 1970s with strong characters, some light humor, and a cast that includes Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer.
1 Children Of Men (2006)
As Theo Faron
Clive Owen starred in this ambitious sci-fi project that has been called one of the best movies of the 21st century. Children of Men is set in the future after humanity has become unable to conceive more children. Owen plays Theo, a mild-mannered guy just trying to make it through the chaotic world when he is roped into a mission to help transport a refugee across the dangerous landscape, discovering that she is in fact the first woman to be pregnant in decades.
Owen brings a grounded feel to this reluctant hero role which plays into director Alfonso Cuarón’s gritty and engrossing approach to the movie. The filmmaking puts the audience right in the middle of this intense ride with long takes that raise the tension and have the viewers on the edge of their seats.
English (US) ·