MAYBE it’s the cup of tea in front of him, the way he thoughtfully strokes his chin as he speaks, or the genuine vigour in his voice, but Clive Owen seems surprisingly normal.

The ruggedly good-looking actor has come a long way from his "rough" Coventry childhood, but despite winning over Hollywood, he remains fiercely loyal to the UK and is firmly rooted in London.

"I love living here," he says. "I came to London 20 years ago and fell in love with it. My kids are very happy here, they’re very settled at school, all my friends are here, there’s absolutely no reason for me to go anywhere."

Clive’s family-centred home life is a world away from the red carpet glamour of Hollywood and you sense that’s just how he likes it.

And when work, like his latest film The International, takes him away from home, he makes sure wife Sarah-Jane Fenton and their daughters, Hannah, 12, and Eve, 9, come too.

"They come to nearly every film I do and they have a great time," the 44-year-old says.

The International, as its title suggests, took Clive all over the world – from Berlin, to Istanbul, Milan and New York as his character, Interpol agent Louis Salinger, tries to bring down the world’s most corrupt bank.

With the global economy in freefall and bankers swiftly being cast as the new villains, it’s an eerily prescient film.

"It’s amazing to think that Eric (Singer – the screenwriter) started writing it six years ago," Clive says.

"When I read the script, I felt like it was a subject that was worth discussing and talking about now, but no one could have predicted how timely it’s become.

"The whole thing is about pursuing this huge bank that we believe to be totally corrupt and questioning whether they’re using money appropriately and whether they’re sound and trustworthy – it’s become the topic of the moment and it’s not that far- fetched."

This happy coincidence was not lost on the film’s marketing team who have written a tagline sure to boost the box office takings: "They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays."

But then, as Clive says, Hollywood still has to make money in a recession.