Paul Bettany

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Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany SDCC 2014.jpg
Bettany at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1971-05-27) 27 May 1971 (age 52)
London,[1] UK
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Education Drama Centre London
Occupation Actor
Years active 1992–present
Spouse(s) Jennifer Connelly (m. 2003)
Children 3
Parent(s)

Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is a British-American actor.[2] He is best known for voicing J.A.R.V.I.S. and playing Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), as well as the miniseries WandaVision (2021).

Bettany first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he starred in the films Gangster No. 1 (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), and A Beautiful Mind (2001). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for playing Stephen Maturin in the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). He went on to appear in several films, including Dogville (2003), Wimbledon (2004), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Creation (2009), The Tourist (2010), Margin Call (2011), Legend (2015), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). He made his directorial debut with the film Shelter (2014), which he also wrote and co-produced.

Early life

Bettany was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, the son of Anne (née Kettle), a stage singer, theatre teacher, and stage manager, and Thane Bettany, a dancer, actor, and drama teacher.[3] Initially, Bettany was raised Roman Catholic,[4][5] although his church attendance drifted after his confirmation.[6] Later he attended Methodist and Church of England congregations with his father as the latter experimented with different Christian branches.[7] Bettany later became an atheist.[8] While his father taught at the all-girls boarding school Queenswood School near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the family lived on the campus.[9] When Bettany was 16, his brother Matthew died at age 8 after falling onto concrete from a tennis pavilion roof at Queenswood.[10] Soon after, Bettany dropped out of school, left home, and went to live on his own as a street performer in London.[11] There, he lived in a small flat and earned money by playing his guitar in the streets as a busker.[11] His parents later divorced.[12] After two years, he found a new job in a home for the elderly.[11] After working there for a year, Bettany enrolled at the Drama Centre in London.[11]

Career

In 1990, at the age of 19, Bettany began a three-year course at the Drama Centre London in Chalk Farm.[13] He made his stage debut in Stephen Daldry's acclaimed West End revival of An Inspector Calls at the Aldwych Theatre, playing the part of Eric Birling. He also appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company's productions of Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar (for which he received a Charleson Award nomination). When Bettany was 21 he appeared in a BBC production of Oliver Twist, playing Bill Sikes.

After appearing in the finale of Sean Bean's series Sharpe as William II of the Netherlands at the Battle of Waterloo, he made his film debut with a small part in Bent, a Holocaust drama which also featured Clive Owen, Jude Law, and Ian McKellen. He continued doing work in stage and television: these included Joe Penhall's Love and Understanding, which played at London's Bush Theatre and then ran in Connecticut. He had roles in the television productions Killer Net and Coming Home, during which he met and dated Emily Mortimer. His last stage work was in One More Wasted Year and Stranger's House at the Royal Court Theatre. He filmed several more movies, including his first leading role in Gangster No. 1. The British Independent Film Awards nominated him for Best Actor, and the London Film Critics' Circle nominated him for British Newcomer of the Year.[citation needed]

Back in Hollywood, writer/director Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) was planning a new film called The Sin Eater (also known as The Order). He was impressed by Bettany's audition tape, though Helgeland eventually decided to film A Knight's Tale instead. The studio executives were not impressed, but Helgeland was determined to cast him, even writing the part of Chaucer for him. A Knight's Tale would be Bettany's first big Hollywood production. He received critical acclaim for A Knight's Tale, including winning the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Supporting Actor. After the movie wrapped, Helgeland, determined that Hollywood should recognize Bettany's talent, showed the audition tape to many of his peers, including Ron Howard, who promptly cast Bettany in A Beautiful Mind. After A Beautiful Mind, Bettany was offered the role of serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon, opposite Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins. He turned down the role in favour of accepting a part with Stellan Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman in Lars von Trier's Dogville.[citation needed]

Bettany's next major project saw him starring again alongside Russell Crowe in Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. His portrayal of surgeon and naturalist Stephen Maturin brought him a BAFTA nomination, and he was named British Actor of the Year (London Film Critics' Circle), and Best Actor (Evening Standard).

On 28 June 2004, Bettany and 13 other actors were included in the 2004 invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Dogville and The Reckoning were released in limited cinemas in 2004. In September of that year, Bettany made his leading-man debut in Wimbledon, a romantic comedy with Kirsten Dunst. The film's cast would also introduce him to Jon Favreau, playing his manager, a relationship that would return when Favreau cast him as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man. In mid-2005, Bettany filmed Firewall in Vancouver, Canada, a thriller also starring Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen, which reunited him with Wimbledon director Richard Loncraine. He spent the autumn of 2005 filming The Da Vinci Code, based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel and starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen. In the film, he played an Opus Dei monk named Silas.

In 2007, Bettany went to London to star in There For Me, written by his friends Dan Fredenburgh and Doraly Rosen.[14] In 2008, he appeared in the New Line Cinema family fantasy Inkheart, playing the part of a fire-eater named Dustfinger.[15] In 2009, he appeared as Charles Darwin in Creation, starring opposite wife Jennifer Connelly. In 2010, Bettany appeared alongside Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist and portrayed the archangel Michael in Legion, a film depicting divine vengeance upon humanity. He starred in the films Priest and Margin Call, both released in 2011.

Bettany reprised his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. in 2010's Iron Man 2, 2012's The Avengers, 2013's Iron Man 3, and Disneyland's Innoventions attraction.[16] In 2014, Bettany starred alongside Johnny Depp and fellow British actor Rebecca Hall in the feature film Transcendence. He was once again paired with Depp in Mortdecai, a 2015 motion picture also starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor.[17] He played Vision in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron,[citation needed] and reprised his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. again in the same film. Bettany portrayed Vision again in the sequels Captain America: Civil War[18] and Avengers: Infinity War.

Bettany also stars as Ted Kaczynski in the Discovery Channel television show, Manhunt: Unabomber. Bettany replaced Michael K. Williams in Solo: A Star Wars Story,[19] after Williams was removed from the final film, as he was unable to return to set during the film's reshoots. Bettany was cast in his place, with the character being reworked from a motion-capture alien to a human.[20]

On 20 January 2018, it was reported that Bettany was nearing a deal to play Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the Netflix series The Crown succeeding Matt Smith.[21] Days later on 25 January, it was reported by TVLine that Bettany was ultimately unable to sign on due to scheduling conflicts.[22]

In 2021, Bettany starred alongside Elizabeth Olsen in the Marvel television miniseries WandaVision, which aired on Disney+. In the miniseries, Bettany portrays a new version of his Marvel Cinematic Universe Character, Vision. [23][24]

In 2020, it became known that Bettany will star as Alexander Nix in an upcoming film on the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.[25]

Personal life

On 1 January 2003, Bettany married American actress Jennifer Connelly in Scotland; they met when they starred together in A Beautiful Mind.[26] They did not become a couple until some time after the film, as both were in other relationships during filming.[27] She was his childhood crush since he first saw her as a teenager in the film Labyrinth.[28] The September 11 attacks motivated him to act on his feelings for her, and after two days of attempting to contact her, he proposed.[29] Soon after, they moved to Brooklyn Heights after having lived together in Tribeca.[30] The couple have also had two children together, a son Stellan (named after his friend, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård), born 2003, and a daughter, Agnes Lark, born 2011.[31][32][33]

In 2020, text messages between Bettany and his close friend, actor Johnny Depp, were used as evidence against Depp in his defamation trial, Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd, against The Sun tabloid for calling him a "wifebeater" in a 2018 article.[34] In the messages, Depp and Bettany discussed ways of sexually, physically and mentally abusing actress Amber Heard.[34][35][36] In 2016, Bettany had defended Depp from accusations that he abused Heard, stating "He's the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I've ever known."[37]


Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1997 Bent Captain
1997 Sharpe's Waterloo Prince William of Orange TV series
1998 Coming Home Edward Carey-Lewis TV movie
1998 Killer Net Joe Hunter TV mini-series
1998 The Land Girls Philip
1999 Every Woman Knows a Secret Rob TV mini-series
1999 After the Rain Steph
2000 Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) Jimmy
2000 The Suicide Club (a.k.a. Game of Death) Shaw
2000 David Copperfield James Steerforth TV movie
2000 Dead Babies Quentin
2000 Gangster No. 1 Young Gangster
2001 A Knight's Tale Geoffrey Chaucer
2001 A Beautiful Mind Charles Herman
2002 Euston Road "Y" Short
2002 The Heart of Me Rickie
2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Dr. Stephen Maturin
2003 The Reckoning Nicholas
2003 Dogville Tom Edison
2004 Wimbledon Peter Colt
2006 Firewall Bill Cox
2006 The Da Vinci Code Silas
2008 Iron Man J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
2008 The Secret Life of Bees T. Ray Owens
2008 Inkheart Dustfinger
2008 Broken Lines Chester
2009 The Young Victoria Lord Melbourne
2009 Creation Charles Darwin
2010 Legion Michael
2010 Iron Man 2 J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
2010 The Tourist John Acheson
2011 Priest Priest
2011 Margin Call Will Emerson
2012 The Avengers J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
2013 Blood Joe Fairburn
2013 Iron Man 3 J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
2014 Transcendence Max Waters
2014 Shelter N/A Writer & director
2015 Mortdecai Jock Strapp
2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron The Vision
J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)
2015 Legend Charlie Richardson
2016 Captain America: Civil War Vision
2017 Journey's End Osborne
2018 Avengers: Infinity War Vision
Solo: A Star Wars Story Dryden Vos
2020 Uncle Frank Frank Bledsoe

Awards and nominations

Year Award Film Result
2000 British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Gangster No. 1 Nominated
2000 London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year Gangster No. 1 Nominated
2001 London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year A Knight's Tale Won
2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer A Knight's Tale Nominated
2001 London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year A Beautiful Mind Nominated
2001 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture A Beautiful Mind Nominated
2003 Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Heart of Me Won
2003 London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Won
2003 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Nominated
2003 BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Nominated
2004 Empire Award for Best British Actor Wimbledon Nominated
2004 Jordan Award for Best Actor Wimbledon Won
2006 Glamour Awards Man of the Year Won
2008 Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble The Secret Life of Bees Nominated

References

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  6. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/may/12/1
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ David, Amrk. "Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly On the Move Again", Variety (magazine), 14 January 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2019. "It was only about 3.5 years ago that English-born movie actor Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, A Knight's Tale) and Brooklyn-bred Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem For A Dream, Blood Diamond) paid $6,920,000 for a full floor loft-type penthouse apartment on the edge of New York City's star-stocked TriBeCa neighborhood."
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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