30 Surprising Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany, famous for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. and the Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has several nominations including BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role to his name. Here are some interesting things to know about the English actor:

1. He named his first child Stellan after his very good friend Stellan Skarsgard with whom he has acted in many movies.
2. He and James D’Arcy worked together in the movie “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” in 2003. Later in 2015 D’Arcy played the character “Edwin Jarvis” in “Agent Carter” and Bettany voiced the computer “J.A.R.V.I.S” in “Iron Man”.
3. He got the role of Chester in the movie “Broken Lines” largely due to writer and actor of the movie Dan Fredenburgh, his best friend.
4. In the movie “The Tourist” in 2010 Bettany mentions a bank account in Liechtenstein. In 2001 movie “A Knight’s Tale” he introduces the title character as Ulrich Von Liechtenstein. He is also reunited with actor Rufus Sewell after acting together in “A Knight’s Tale”.
5. As the herald of the title character in the movie “A Knight’s Tale” he had to do lot of shouting and thus developed Laryngitis.
6. Bettany and Sewell, who work together in “A Knight’s Tale”, later played the same character at different times. Bettany plays Lord Melbourne in movie “The Young Victoria” and Sewell plays the same role in TV series “Victoria”
7. Bettany as a kid was a member of Sea Cadets and hence was the only one not getting sea sick during the filming of “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”.
8. He went to Royal College of Surgeons in London to learn how to use the 18th century surgical instruments for his character in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”.
9. Bettany initially rejected the movie “Dogville” because they were filming in Sweden. His friend and co-actor Skarsgard convinced him to come under the pretext that it will be fun working with director Lars Von Tier. After several days of shooting he came to know that Skarsgard lied to him just because he wanted Bettany to work under the amazing director.
10. Bettany’s experience working under director Lars Von Tier is unsatisfying and hideous. Though he is a great fan of the director’s films, he never watched the movie “Dogsville” in which he acted.
11. He married his wife Jenifer Connelly after the filming of the movie “A Beautiful Mind”. Both play a significant character in the movie.
12. Initially it was Thure Lindhardt who was to play the albino Silas in “The Da Vinci Code”. However director Ron Howard decided on Bettany because he thought Lindhardt looked too young for the character.
13. During the filming of the movie “Firewall” in 2006 Harrison Ford insisted that Bettany hit him really hard in a fight scene. The later obliged with a full strength punch to which Ford said “That’s it”.
14. His makeup artist Veronica McaAleer got the inspiration for the makeup of Bettany’s character Silas in “The Da Vinci Code” while filming “Firewall” in 2006. She would call all the crew members to come and show their scars they got from shooting in an outside location in Kamloops, British Columbia.
15. Bettany and Kirsten Dunst play Tennis player in 2004 movie “Wimbledon”. The entire movie was filmed in real tennis court during the 2003 Wimbledon tournament. Actors would walk in before and after a match was played with real spectators seated there instead of extras.
16. He was born on May 27, 1971 in Shepherd’s Bush, London, England. His mother Anne was a stage manager, stage singer and theatre teacher, while his father Thane Bettany was an actor, a dancer and drama teacher.
17. He was raised as a roman catholic even though his father experimented with other Christian branches. Bettany later became an atheist.
18. His younger brother Matthews died at the age of 8, when Bettany was 16 years old. Matthews fell down on a concrete from a tennis pavilion roof in Queenswood.
19. Soon after his brother’s death he dropped out of school and left home to lead a life of street performer. He earned money by playing his guitar as a busker.
20. He worked in home for the elderly for a year before enrolling into drama centre in London. He was 19 at that time and began a three year course.
21. Jennifer Connelly was his childhood crush after watching her in the movie “Labyrinth” as a teenager. He married her in 2003 in Scotland.
22. Bettany proposed to Connelly after the September 2011 attack. It was after a gap of two years since they met on a movie set, and after trying for two days he asked to marry her.
23. He replaced Michael K Williams in the movie “Solo: A Star Wars Story” after, Williams was not able to come for the reshoot of the full movie. The character was changed from an alien to a human.
24. He gave up smoking in 2005 after 2 year old Stellan strated to imitate his father’s smoking habit with a pen.
25. He was the first choice to play the title character in movie “The King’s Speech” but turned it down. He was replaced by Colin Firth, who later won Best Actor Oscar for the same performance.
26. He defended his wife during a controversy when media executive John Riley publicly tore her photo stating she was his former favourite actress. This was in response to the actor couple leaving the after party for her film “Creation” little early.
27. During a comic con interview he told that if he had J.A.R.V.I.S in real life, he would ask it to do dishes and laundry. These are the two chores he is very much irritated about.
28. There was a time in his life when a producer told him that your career is over. Sitting outside the producer’s office in Sunset Boulevard he had a reversal of fortune when Joss Whedon called him for a superhero role in the next Avengers Movie.
29. He won Evening Standard Film Award for best supporting actor in 2001 for the role of Geoffrey Chaucer in the movie “A Knight’s Tale”.
30. He was also nominated for Best Actor in London Film Critics Circle Awards for his role in the movie “Gangster No 1”.