‘A Murder at the End of the World’ Interview: Clive Owen

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Clive Owen as Andy Ronson in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

The new miniseries ‘A Murder at the End of the World,’ which was created by actress Brit Marling and director Zal Batmanglij (‘Sound of My Voice,’ ‘The East’), and stars Emma Corrin (‘Deadpool 3’) and Clive Owen (‘Children of Men’), will premiere on FX beginning November 14th.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Clive Owen about his work on ‘A Murder at the End of the World,’ his character, Marling and Batmanglij’s pitch for the series, working with the filmmaking duo, and his love for mysteries.

Clive Owen as Andy Ronson in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

Moviefone: To begin with, how would you describe your character Andy Ronson, in your own words?

Clive Owen: I play a character who’s a tech billionaire who used to have these regular retreats where he invites particular people who are at the forefront of the world, particularly in tech, and then brings them together for a gathering, and he has flown everyone to this very remote location in Iceland. Then it starts to turn into a very fresh take on a murder mystery where you’ve got a whole group of people who are captive, and things start to go wrong. Then we realize the situation, and that’s how it develops.

A scene from FX’s ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

MF: How did Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij pitch the character to you when you were first in discussions for the role?

CO: I mean, it was pitched as a very modern take on a on a murder mystery. I read a couple of descriptions and then jumped on another long zoom with them, and they started to talk about the potential of where it was going to go. What I loved about it is that I feel that they’re very exciting filmmakers, the two of them. They’re very ambitious. They’re trying to discuss things that are hugely relevant in an original way. Although it is a murder mystery, I’ve certainly never seen a character like Darby take us through a story like this. I was very excited by that, and it helps that Emma Corrin is fantastic in it. But you know a young, very smart, feisty person is not often at the center of stories like this. You realize that that’s something that you know needs to change and hopefully, this is the beginning of that.

Related Article: Emma Corrin Talks ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ and Filming in Iceland

Emma Corrin as Darby Hart in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

MF: Did you take inspiration for Andy from any real-life tech billionaires, or did you just draw your inspiration for the character from how he was written on the page?

CO: Only from what I discussed with them. We had some long Zooms where we talked about it, and I didn’t want to go off and, you know, home in on one person. This is going to be my take on it. It was very much script led, and it was very much led by Brit and Zal. They gave me a whole back story very early on, and thoughts about where he came from and his background. We wrestled with that and brought things into play. Sometimes you still go outside, and you find somebody to home in on and think about. But this was very much script led.

(Right) Clive Owen as Andy Ronson in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

MF: What was your experience like working with both Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij on this series?

CO: It was refreshingly and seamless. You know they are a real partnership in terms of they do everything, and they really see the story through together. Then, on this one, Brit was also a director, and she was super impressive in terms of you could act with her in a scene, and then she would go and check the monitor. The rhythm never got held up. She was very on top of what she was trying to achieve, both as a director and as an actress, and it felt like a natural flow. She was crossing between acting and directing very easy and smooth.

(L to R) Clive Owen, Brit Marling and Emma Corrin in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

MF: Can you talk about the dynamics between Andy and the character Brit Marling plays, Lee Anderson? Did you have rehearsal time or discuss their relationship before you began filming?

CO: We talked about everything. I think it’s always super important to fully from an act to understand the intentions of what you know they were trying to do. We had plenty of Zooms and plenty of conversations about it. You know, what they were trying to achieve with it, and I think that’s kind of enough. If you over rehearse, you can sort of lose something. But it’s important to really nail everybody’s intentions. Their intentions as writers and directors, and what they want to get out of the actors, and we did. We did an awful lot of you prep before we shot.

(L to R) Emma Corrin as Darby Hart and Harris Dickinson as Bill in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Christopher Saunders/FX.

MF: Finally, the show is really a mystery series. Are you a fan of that genre?

CO: I mean, back in the day I did a movie with Robert Atman called ‘Gosford Park.’ That’s the classic, you know, everybody brought together in one location, something goes wrong, and we must find out who’s responsible. This was a very fresh take on that kind of story.

(Center) Clive Owen as Andy Ronson in ‘A Murder at the End of the World.’ Photo: Chris Saunders/FX.

What’s the plot of ‘A Murder at the End of the World?

‘A Murder at the end of the World’ sees Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker Darby Hart (Emma Corrin) and eight other guests invited by a reclusive billionaire (Clive Owen) to participate in a retreat at a remote and dazzling location.

When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must use all of her skills to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life. She’ll gave to deal with both the human element and the complicated technology that runs the facility.