Clive Owen's Reel Nightmare

Actor On New Film, And Balancing Work With Family Life

(CBS) 
So what does he tell his children when he has to go?

"Well, mine are very young," he says. "They think it's a choice. They think it's me choosing this over them. They don't quite understand that. They will."

For now, his children cannot see his movies. "And they're now getting a bit annoyed with me," Owen adds, laughing. "They're like, 'When are you going to do one for us? Why can't we see them?' That's what I'm getting at the moment."

"Derailed" opens nationwide Friday. Also Friday, don't miss Smith's very candid interview with Owen's costar, Jennifer Aniston.

Fast Facts About Clive Owen:

• Born in Coventry, England, in 1965
  
  
• Began studying acting as a teenager.
  
  
• Made professional stage debut as member of the Young Vic company; played Claudio in "Measure for Measure" and Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet."
  
  
• In 1988 made feature film debut in "Vroom." The following year, he made his U.S. TV debut in "Precious Bane," a two-part segment of the PBS series "Mystery!"
  
  
• From 1990 to 1991 he played lead in Central Television series "Chancer." In 1991, he won praise for his performance as an incestuous brother in Steven Poliakoff's, "Close My Eyes."
  
  
• In 1993 he was directed by Poliakoff in "Century," and made his American TV-movie debut in, "Class of '61" (ABC).
  
  
• In 1996 had his first U.S. feature film, "The Rich Man's Wife." He also starred in the ITV series "Sharman."
  
  
• In 1999 he played the title role in Mike Hodges' "Croupier;" the film became a popular art-house hit upon its 2000 release in America. He also introduced the character of Detective Inspector Ross Tanner, a policeman suffering a virus that affects his ability to see, in the BBC series "Second Sight"; it aired on PBS in the United States.
  
  
• In 2000 he co-starred as a prisoner with a flair for gardening in "Greenfingers;" it was screened at the Toronto Film Festival; first screen appearance opposite Helen Mirren.
  
  
• In 2001 he reprised role of Tanner in a second series of "Second Sight" (BBC-1), which aired on PBS in the United States. He also played the valet to a visiting guest at "Gosford Park," the Robert Altman-directed period mystery; it was his second screen teaming with Helen Mirren.
  
  
• In 2002 he co-starred in a villainous turn in "The Bourne Identity." And he starred opposite Angelina Jolie in the love story "Beyond Borders."
  
  
• In 2004 he starred in the thriller "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," playing a retired British gangster who emerges from his secluded countryside life to investigate the death of his brother.
  
  He was also in Antoine Fuqua's supposedly "demystified" retelling of the legend of "King Arthur," a big budget, action-oriented film that cast Owen as England's once and future king, this time set in a more historically correct context.
  
  And he appeared in the romantically brutal drama "Closer" directed by Mike Nichols, about two couples (Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Jude Law co-starred) who become messily intertwined in a love-sex-gender war. He won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
  
  
• In 2005 he played the rugged Dwight, who has a "soft spot for the ladies," in an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel series "Sin City."