IT’S not everyday you get to watch a film at the cinema with the leading actor but that is exactly what lucky cinema goers in Harwich got a chance to do.

Shunning the glitz of Hollywood in favour of a quaint little theatre in Harwich, film star, Clive Owen came to watch his latest offering, The International, at the Electric Palace.

Fans crowded into the recently restored Edwardian cinema on Sunday evening***Mar1*** to see the A-List star introduce his new movie and give a question and answer session, where he shared his thoughts on film, theatre and his love of the Electric Palace with his audience.

During the intimate chat with fans, his love of the old cinema was clear to see, and he confessed he prefers watching his films in the authentic surroundings of the Electric Palace rather than at glitzy showbiz premieres.

Mr Owen, 45, said: “I am completely in love with this cinema, it has an authenticity and uniqueness that you can’t replicate anywhere else.

“It is without a doubt my favourite place to come and watch films, a place where you are not bombarded with soft drinks and commercialism but just the experience of cinema.”

He added: “It is hugely important for me to support this and given the choice I would rather see my films here than anywhere else, every time.”

Mr Owen, who was once rumoured to be the next James Bond, is a patron of the Electric Palace and has helped to raise more than £85,000 to renovate the cinema, which was re-opened in 1981 after falling into a state of disrepair in the 1950s.

Mr Owen is married to Sarah-Jane Fenton and lives in Wrabness with his two children, Hannah and Eve.

The sell out charity showing raised £1,500 for the cinema, which was first opened in 1911 and is thought to be one of the oldest in the country.