"The trouble with talking about acting is that it's like sex. It's enormously fun to do but just dreadfully embarrassing when you have to talk about it."
Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971 in Harlesden, London) is an English-American actor.
He had his breakout role as a naked Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight's Tale, which is probably saying something, and has since starred in a wide variety of movies where he usually steals all the scenes he's in.
He's married to actress Jennifer Connelly. Their son Stellan is named after fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Stellan Skarsgård, and they also have a daughter, Agnes.
Some of his roles include:
- Sharpe (1997) as the Prince of Orange
- Gangster No. 1 (2000) as the Gangster
- A Knight's Tale (2001) as Geoffrey Chaucer
- A Beautiful Mind (2001) as Charles Herman, alongside Russell Crowe
- Master and Commander (2003) as Dr. Stephen Maturin, also alongside Russell Crowe
- Wimbledon (2004) as Peter Colt
- The Da Vinci Code (2006) as Silas
- Firewall (2006) as Bill Cox
- Inkheart (2008) as Dustfinger
- Marvel Cinematic Universe in dual roles as:
- The voice of J.A.R.V.I.S.:
- Iron Man (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- What If...? (2021)note
- The Vision:
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- WandaVision (2021)
- What If...? (2021)note
- The voice of J.A.R.V.I.S.:
- Creation (2009) as Charles Darwin
- The Young Victoria (2009) as Viscount Melbourne
- Legion (2010) as Archangel Michael
- The Tourist (2010) as Inspector John Acheson
- Margin Call (2011) as Will Emerson
- Priest (2011) as Priest
- Manhunt: Unabomber (2017) as Ted Kaczynski
- Star Wars: Solo (2018) as Dryden Vos
- Uncle Frank (2020) as the titular Frank
Examples concerning this actor:
- Awesome, Dear Boy:
- Bettany states he does all his action films like Legion and Priest because he enjoys them just as much as the dramatic, artsy films.
- He started seeing his role in the MCU as this after he transitioned from voicing J.A.R.V.I.S. in a recording studio to playing his successor Vision on set with all the other actors in the franchise.
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- Went to the gym for six months while filming Legion. He hated it.
- He spent several months learning how to play tennis for Wimbledon and notes on the DVD Commentary how painful it was.
- His hair was dyed brunette for Master and Commander.
- Vision forces him to go through hours of make-up, not to mention a padded and hot costume.
- Creator Backlash: Actively discourages anybody from trying to watch Dead Babies.
- Money, Dear Boy: He admits that his performances as J.A.R.V.I.S. are mainly for this, and he doesn't even watch the movies. Playing the Vision, however, got him more excited
, as it was a more complex challenge than voice acting."I used to be in a studio for 45 minutes and do J.A.R.V.I.S. and get a huge bag of cash and go my way like a burglar, and now they want me to work for my money. Which is great and sweaty and hot, which you’ll realize once they unveil everything. It’s really f***ing cool. It’s great to join this train which is on really clear tracks." - Mr. Fanservice: His directors seem well aware of his appeal.
- Promoted Fanboy: And how! When Ron Howard took over Solo, Bettany sent him an offhand text, saying "Hey, Ron, have you ever spent long winter evenings like I have wondering why you're not in the Star Wars franchise?" Two weeks later, he was cast as Dryden Vos.note
- Romance on the Set: He met Jennifer Connelly while filming A Beautiful Mind. They later acted together as husband and wife in Creation, and Connelly had a short cameo as Dustfinger's girlfriend/soon-to-be-wife in Inkheart.
- Those Two Actors:
- With Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander.
- And with Jennifer Connelly (see above).
- Also with Stellan Skarsgård in Dogville, The Avengers, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- Also, also with Jon Favreau in the the Iron Man films and Solo, as well as Wimbledon.
- What Could Have Been: He was Christopher Nolan's second choice for the role of the Joker in The Dark Knight before the casting of Heath Ledger.
