Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany
Bettany at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1971-05-27) 27 May 1971 Shepherd's Bush, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Religion	None (Atheist)[1]
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Connelly (m. 2003)
Children	3

Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film Gangster No. 1 (2000), and director Brian Helgeland's film A Knight's Tale (2001). He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Dogville (2003), and the adaptation of the novel The Da Vinci Code (2006). He is also known for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), and Iron Man 3 (2013). He will portray Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

He has been nominated for various awards, including BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Bettany is married to American actress Jennifer Connelly, with whom he has three children.

His commercially most successful films have been The Da Vinci Code which grossed US$758 million, A Beautiful Mind which grossed US$314 million, and The Tourist which grossed US$278 million worldwide.^[2]

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] but later attended Methodist and Church of England congregations with his father as his father experimented with different Christian branches.^[6] Bettany later became an atheist.^[7] While his father taught at the all-girls boarding school Queenswood School in Hertfordshire, the family lived on the campus.^[8] When Bettany was 16, his brother Matthew died at age 8 after falling onto concrete from a tennis pavilion roof at Queenswood.^[9] Soon after, Bettany dropped out of school, left home, and went to live on his own as a street performer in London.^[10] There, he lived in a small flat and earned money by playing his guitar in the streets as a busker.^[10] His parents later divorced.^[11] After two years, he found a new job in a home for the elderly.^[10] After working there for a year, Bettany enrolled at the Drama Centre in London.^[10]

Career

In 1990 at the age of 19, Bettany began a three-year course at the Drama Centre London in Chalk Farm.^[12] 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, as Bill Sikes.

After appearing in the finale of Sean Bean's series Sharpe as HRH The Prince of Orange 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. He did his last theatre work 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.

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 Bettany 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, and most American audiences would have their first look at Paul Bettany.

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 controversial director Lars von Trier's Dogville.

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 more critical acclaim, including a BAFTA nomination, 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.^[13]

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 spring 2005, Bettany went to Vancouver to film Firewall, a thriller 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 and Audrey Tautou. 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 movie based on God's vengeance against humanity. Bettany also starred in the 2011 films Priest and Margin Call.

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] He is set play the character Vision in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron.^[17]

Personal life

Bettany and Connelly at Toronto International Film Festival in 2009

On 1 January 2003, Bettany married actress Jennifer Connelly in Scotland whom he met while starring together in A Beautiful Mind.^[18]

He moved to Brooklyn, New York, with Connelly and her son Kai. The couple's son, Stellan, named after actor Stellan Skarsgård, was born in 2003.^[19] Stellan's godfather is the actor Charlie Condou. Their daughter, Agnes Lark, was born in 2011.^[20]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Bettany.

• Paul Bettany at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Bettany biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline