The British actor has the title role in "King Arthur," the latest saga about the ancient ruler and his knights of the round table.

The movie marks the Hollywood coming-out party for Owen, who has been on a long, slow build to stardom.

Starting with a distinguished career in British film, theater and television, Owen gained international exposure with a handful of American movies and a recurring role in one of the few dramatic successes produced for the Internet, a series of short films promoting BMW cars.

Considering Owen, 39, settled on an acting career as a boy playing Charles Dickens' Artful Dodger in a school play, the actor has been in no hurry to hit the big time.

"I'm perfectly happy it's happening now. I feel very, very grounded. It would be difficult to be over here when you're young and relatively inexperienced," Owen said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I want to be in it for the long term. I see it as a career. I see it as a craft. I'm not interested in getting anywhere fast."

The second-youngest of five brothers from Coventry, England, Owen broke with his working-class roots by studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Though he had worked steadily for a decade, Owen was virtually unknown outside Britain until his casino thriller "Croupier" became a sleeper hit in the United States.

After that, Robert Altman cast Owen in his ensemble tale "Gosford Park" and Owen had a juicy supporting role as a hit man in "The Bourne Identity."

He followed those with a high-profile clunker, last fall's "Beyond Borders," playing the romantic lead opposite Angelina Jolie in the box-office flop about international aid workers.

Owen was the ultracool driver in BMW's "The Hire" Web films, which he initially turned down because "I didn't think it was very smart to just do a bunch of adverts," he said.

He finally agreed after realizing they were proper little films with good scripts and generous budgets. The lineup of directors was even more impressive, including John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai and Tony Scott.

The James Bond rumors then began circulating, with 007 fans remarking that "The Hire" films made an impressive audition reel for Owen if and when the current Bond, Pierce Brosnan, steps down.

"The first thing to say is, there are far worse things to be associated with than James Bond," Owen said with a big laugh. "The next thing is, it's all been complete media speculation. I don't know where it comes from and why it keeps coming up, because it's never been anything more than just rumor.

"And thirdly, I think Pierce Brosnan has been a great Bond. He's done a fantastic job, and as far as I'm concerned, he's the man. He's James Bond and I don't know why people talk about who's coming up behind him. He's been fantastic for that franchise and he should be back."

Brosnan, 51, is under contract for three more Bond films with an option for a fourth, according to distributor MGM.

Even if Owen never gets to put on Bond's tux, he can boast about slipping into King Arthur's crown. His collaborators said Owen plays the monarch's role well.

"He's very manly," said Keira Knightley, who co-stars as Guinevere. "Clive brings an amazing worldly quality to this. You look at his face and you think, he's lived a life, he's seen things. That kind of strength works beautifully in that character."

"King Arthur" is a far different take than the romantic tales of chivalrous knights and magic swords of "Camelot," "Excalibur" and other Hollywood adaptations.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") and produced by blockbuster baron Jerry Bruckheimer, "King Arthur" is based on archaeological evidence of a Roman-British leader named Artorius, who fought Saxon invaders in the sixth century.

Supernatural trappings appended to Arthurian legend in the Middle Ages are gone, along with the love triangle among Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd).

Merlin, a sorcerer and Arthur's mentor in traditional versions, here is a guerrilla warrior who forges an uneasy alliance with Arthur against the Saxons.

"When I read it, I thought it was just some radical take on it. But it does have roots in proper historical research," Owen said. "So you feel at the end of the day it's as valid as any version, really."

Owen's Arthur comes across as a brooding, reluctant leader who feels more authentic than the dashing king of legend, Fuqua said.

"I wanted a guy who looked like a real guy," Fuqua said. "Clive's handsome, but he's not ridiculously handsome. He's not wearing his emotions on his sleeve, but he's emotional."

Along with "King Arthur," Owen stars in the crime thriller "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," his reunion with "Croupier" director Mike Hodges that is playing in limited release.

Late this year, Owen will be seen alongside Julia Roberts in Mike Nichols' "Closer," a domestic drama about two married couples. Owen starred in the original stage version.