Owen Wilson a 'Big Poetry Fan'

By Amy Elisa Keith

06/18/2008 at 01:00 PM EDT

Who knew? Owen Wilson has a touch of the poet.

"He's a big poetry fan, and I am too. So we email poems to each other," says Academy Award-wining actor Alan Arkin, 74, who recently wrapped the film Marley & Me alongside Wilson.

At the Los Angeles premiere Monday night of Arkin's latest film Get Smart, also starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, Arkin told PEOPLE: "We sent little poems to each other since the movie."

Wilson, 39, who recently split from actress Kate Hudson, also impressed Arkin with his ability to recite poems from memory.

"He's very literate ... enormously literate," adds Arkin. "He can quote a lot of great writers verbatim – long passages."

Marley & Me, also starring Jennifer Aniston, is due out in December.

• Reporting by JED DREBEN