Paul Bettany Biography

Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically the films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), in which he also portrayed the Vision, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for which he garnered praise. He reprised his role as the Vision in Captain America: Civil War (2016). 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), Wimbledon (2004), and the adaptation of the novel The Da Vinci Code (2006).

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 two children. His most commercially successful films have been The Avengers, which grossed over US$1.5 billion, its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron, which grossed over $1.4 billion, Iron Man 3, which grossed over US$1.2 billion, Captain America: Civil War, which grossed over US$1.1 billion, and The Da Vinci Code, which grossed US$758 million.

Early life

Bettany was born in Shepherd's Bush, west London, the son of Anne (ne Kettle), a stage singer, theatre teacher, and stage manager, and Thane Bettany, a dancer, actor, and drama teacher. Initially, Bettany was raised Roman Catholic, although his church attendance drifted after his confirmation. Later he attended Methodist and Church of England congregations with his father as the latter experimented with different Christian branches. Bettany later became an atheist. While his father taught at the all-girls boarding school Queenswood School near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the family lived on the campus.

When Bettany was 16, his brother Matthew died at age 8 after falling onto concrete from a tennis pavilion roof at Queenswood. Soon after, Bettany dropped out of school, left home, and went to live on his own as a street performer in London. There, he lived in a small flat and earned money by playing his guitar in the streets as a busker. His parents later divorced. After two years, he found a new job in a home for the elderly. After working there for a year, Bettany enrolled at the Drama Centre in London.

Career

In 1990 at the age of 19, Bettany began a three-year course at the Drama Centre London in Chalk Farm. 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 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. 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.

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 Skarsgrd and Nicole Kidman in 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 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 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. In 2008, he appeared in the New Line Cinema family fantasy Inkheart, playing the part of a fire-eater named Dustfinger. 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. 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. 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. He played the Vision in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron, and reprised his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. again in the same film. Bettany portrayed The Vision again in Captain America: Civil War.

Personal life

On 1 January 2003, Bettany married American actress Jennifer Connelly in Scotland; they met when they starred together in A Beautiful Mind. However, they did not become a couple until some time after the film as both were in other relationships during filming. She was his childhood crush since he first saw her as a teenager in the film Labyrinth. Following the September 11 attacks, which caused him to realize his feelings for Jennifer, he contacted her after two days worth of attempts and asked her to marry him. Soon after, he moved to Brooklyn, New York with Connelly and her son. The couple have also had two children together, a son and a daughter.

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		Writer & director
2015	Mortdecai	Jock Strapp
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	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	Filming

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Film	Result
2000	British Independent Film Award for Best Actor	Gangster No. 1
2000	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year	Gangster No. 1
2001	London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year	A Knight's Tale
2001	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer	A Knight's Tale
2001	London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year	A Beautiful Mind
2001	SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	A Beautiful Mind
2003	Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Heart of Me
2003	London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2003	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2003	BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2004	Empire Award for Best British Actor	Wimbledon
2004	Jordan Award for Best Actor	Wimbledon
2006	Glamour Awards Man of the Year
2008	Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble	The Secret Life of Bees
2016	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor	Avengers: Age of Ultron