Features

Really?

Yes it is. You've still got to convince people that it's really happening. So even if you're doing something minor during a chase, if you don't do it very well, then you're not a very good actor. It's just like nailing dialogue. That's the job at that particular point.

Working with John Frankenheimer must have been a real privilege...

He was the king of the car chase, and he was obsessed. He invented the rig where the steering was ripped out and set up on the passenger side, and he put a dummy wheel on the driver's side for the actor. So the stunt driver is out of view throwing the car around and I have to look like I know how to throw a car around. Better than Robert De Niro in Ronin, I hope.

Great in Taxi Driver, but not such a convincing getaway driver...

Frankenheimer actually pulled me into his trailer in LA and - well, I'm not going to say anything about whom he actually showed me - but he said, "I want you to watch some clips of people driving in movies who look completely crap, like they don't know what the hell they're doing, and I want to show you people who look perfect." John constructed car chases incredibly specifically, beat by beat. He had it all worked out... "Clive, this is where you turn, this is where you've got to fight the wheel - you pull on the handbrake here..." I did plenty of driving working on The Hire. It was a treat to be in the car with those stunt guys.

You drive a Jaguar XKR. Is this to do with staying connected with your home town?

It's a nice association for sure, being a Coventry boy. There were no immediate family connections, but Coventry was a motor city, and I had lots of extended family, uncles and friends who worked at car factories. The XKR is a truly beautiful car.

Were you obsessed with cars as a kid?

Not really...

But you're a football fan. I have a theory that men are either big football fans or big car nuts, but rarely both...

I'm afraid that's nonsense. I know lots who are into both. I just wasn't that crazy about cars when I was younger. I only passed my test on the third attempt, when I was 21. I'm more into cars now...

What kind of driver are you?

I enjoy driving... (laughs) but I don't agree with road rage, or getting into rucks. I enjoy driving in LA more than anywhere else. It's a city that's been designed around the car.

Shouldn't you have joined the rest of the Hollywood A-list and got a Toyota Prius?

My wife has one. (Pause) C'mon, a Jaguar XK and a Prius...

Fair enough. But the Prius typifies the kind of Hollywood mentality of being seen to be doing the right thing, while the limo waits around the corner. How do you avoid being sucked into all the bullshit?

Well, movies opened up quite late for me. I'd been around a long time. I'd done years of television and theatre. I don't think I'll let it go to my head. I don't take any of this for granted. (Pause) I'm having a very good time.

Is there a fear that it could all just stop?

Every actor has that. You'd be crazy not to have that fear. It just takes a couple of bad films. It's happened to some of the biggest stars in the business. Doesn't matter how successful an actor is, fear is always a motivator.