Clive Owen on Playing Dwight: “Oh, I was thrilled to be asked to be involved. Robert had sent me the graphic novel and this 10 minute thing that he’d already filmed, and I found it hugely exciting. I wasn’t familiar with Frank’s work at all and I read the graphic novel, ‘The Big Fat Kill,’ and I thought it was the wildest, most imaginative thing I’ve come across in ages. I was just thrilled to be asked to be a part of it,” said Owen.
The Importance of Having Frank Miller on the “Sin City” Set: Robert Rodriguez says he and Frank Miller worked very well together and tried not to do any contradictory directing. “It was very complimentary. I really wanted him to be a director, rather than just there as writer or as a producer because I really felt if he just came as that, they might just stick him in a corner and feed him a sandwich every once in a while. But if he was there as a director, everyone would have to listen to him. And I wanted it not to be ‘Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City,’” explained Rodriguez.
Clive Owen felt having Miller on the set was absolutely essential. “He’s the god who conjured up this sort of crazy world. I think this guy is a genius. I saw the film yesterday for the first time and I have to say this guy is a genius. I was blown away by it. I think that world – I felt like at the end of that movie that I’d been taken to some extraordinary place I’ve never been before. I think that Frank’s vision of that world is that, and this guy has just gone and created it on film."
Life on the Set: Owen isn’t shy about admitting how much fun he had on the set of “Sin City.” Laughing, Owen confessed, “I had the most fantastic time. I hung out in Old Town every day.” Owen definitely had a good time working on "Sin City," as did his female co-stars. Brittany Murphy and Rosario Dawson, the two lovely actresses who play sexy, lethal [and minimally dressed] women who have a thing for Dwight in “Sin City," share an appreciation for Owen’s acting talents. Murphy said it was a joy to work with Clive and praised him saying, “He’s an extraordinarily talented man and I learned a lot from him.”
Dawson found working with Clive Owen to be a wonderful experience. Speaking directly to Clive at the “Sin City” press conference, Dawson said, “I mean, when I saw you in ‘Closer’ as well afterwards, I completely understood, because your sense of humor is just wicked. I just had so much fun working with you. It’s such a crazy character and such crazy dialogue. And we both laughed about it and then went gung ho for it. I mean, I’m wearing… It was funny. The first time I walked out in my outfit and I had this robe on, everyone was being really good about covering up and stuff. I remember I was taking it off and you were like [makes a face], ‘Okay, so I’ve got to act with that!’ (Laughing) I’m like, ‘Yeah, exactly! I’ve got to act with this as well.’ We’re doing these scenes and he’s backhanding me across the face… It was so amazing. He was so game, I was so game. It was awesome!”
Mastering a Specific American Accent: Clive Owen admits he was initially concerned when Robert Rodriguez asked him to do it. “It was like in a few weeks time and I saw how much voice-over there was but Robert was very cool about it. He said, ‘There’s a huge amount of your voice-over. Don’t sweat about it. Just concentrate on your dialogue. You’ve got plenty of time.’ Robert was so healthy about it that I felt really fine in just going for it. And also, the thing about those graphic novels is it’s easy to underestimate. Frank Miller is not only a fantastic artist, but the language he uses, the dialogue that we lifted straight from the book, is really fantastic dialogue. It has great rhythms. It's very smart, very witty. And so really you just... the whole thing was just really easy because you’ve got such strong guidelines and the rhythm of the dialogue is dictated by what’s on the page. You read it and you know how to speak it. It’s got a very classic, noir rhythm to it,” said Owen.
