Much like his "Derailed" co-star Jennifer Aniston, Clive Owen has been in the spotlight as well, but only because of the speculation as to who would fill in the shoes of Pierce Brosnan as Agent 007 in "Casino Royale." But now that it's been announced that Daniel Craig will be the new James Bond, Owen can rest assured that people won't be targeting him for vodka martini.

Instead, he prefers much more grounded films. The past year has been great for Owen with such hits as "Closer" and "Sin City." This weekend, Owen co-stars in "Derailed," the new dark thriller from Mikael Hafstrom ("Evil") and co-starring Jennifer Aniston and Vincent Cassel. In "Derailed," Owen plays a working family man named Charles who meets Lucinda (Aniston) on a train while to work. Seduced by her charms, he can't help but think about her. He brings her to a hotel room for one night of passion, only to find that it is disrupted by a criminal named Laroche (Cassel). After a brutal attack on Lucinda, Charles hopes that the worst is behind him. But Laroche hasn't had enough, and the terror is far from being over...

Below, Clive talks about his thriller and also whether or not there is a bit of jealousy in him about James Bond...

Q: How was working with Mikael as a director, compared to working with other directors you've worked with in the past?

CLIVE: I don't know if anyone here has seen his film "Evil," but I was sent his film "Evil," and was completely blown away by it. I think it was such a beautifully directed film. And I think Mikael was a great choice for this film because it is a psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns. In certain hands, it could have had a very sort of simplistic bombastic style, but Mikael was so nuanced and subtle that the thing about his films are that they're always very psychologically clear. They are very delicate and subtle and I think that was very important for a film like this.

Q: You tend to play characters who are very much in control of the situation but this guy is very vulnerable. Was there a part of that attraction?

CLIVE: There was definitely something very attractive about playing a very reactive part, as opposed to somebody who drives the narrative forward and is on the front. [He's] somebody who the story comes out and has to react and respond. It always struck me as an old Hitchcock movie about people who are thrown into nightmare worlds where everything isn't quite what it seems. And for the film to be convincing work, you've gotta be in that nightmare, and it's all about reacting as opposed to driving it, and I was excited by that challenge.

Q: The attack scene where Vincent assaults Jennifer...how was it to film that?

CLIVE: I think it's a very important scene becauseyou don't want to be in a position where you're condemning these two people for falling into this hotel room together, because otherwise you're going be too judgmental when the nightmare really starts to get going. So I think Mikael played all that very delicately and very beautifully, the coming together of these two people. In other hands, you might have judged them too much later on and thought, "Well, they get their just desserts."

But these two people, there's a strong mutual attraction. They know they shouldn't go to that hotel room, but they do. They're fallible, flawed human beings who fall for each other. A terrible thing happens and there are huge consequences. So the scene had to begin in a very delicately pitched place. Otherwise, you'd have judged them too harshly.

Q: You have some great scenes with the RZA. How was it to work with him? Did you know his work?

CLIVE: It was fantastic. I did know RZA's work and it's a very important relationship in the movie, and sometimes when people crossover from music to the movies, it can be gimmicky but they play it brilliantly. RZA's a huge talent in a number of ways and a huge talent.

Q: Talk about Jennifer now. How did you react when you were told you would be working opposite her?

CLIVE: I still don't like her [laughs] No, I was thrilled when Mikael said he was going after Jennifer for the part because I'm always a huge fan of the ones that make it look incredibly easy, and I think Jennifer's as good as it gets. It's not easy and she makes it look easy because she's so brilliant.

Q: Were you disappointed that you didn't get the James Bond role?

CLIVE: I wasn't disappointed at all, no. There was a lot of media speculation, there was never an official offer. I've sort of talked myself out of playing it by taking a number of movies that go into next year, they're all very different, they're all with very exciting people, and I'm having the time of my career, so...

Q: You're not even a tiny bit disappointed?

CLIVE: Nyet.

Q: Are you doing "Sin City 2"?

CLIVE: They're talking about doing it next year, and I was a huge fan of [the first] "Sin City." I think Robert Rodriguez is a genius and that was one of the most groundbreaking exciting movies I've been part of.

Q: Have they asked you to shave your head yet for the role?

CLIVE: Not yet.

"Derailed" opens in theaters this Friday.