Paul Bettany facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Bettany
Bettany at the 2023 Phoenix Fan Fusion
Born	(1971-05-27) 27 May 1971 (age 54) London, England
Citizenship	United Kingdom United States
Education	Drama Centre London
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Connelly ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Thane Bettany (father)

Paul Bettany, born on May 27, 1971, is an English actor. He is famous for playing J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the exciting Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. He also starred in the Disney+ show WandaVision (2021). For his role in WandaVision, he was nominated for a big award called the Primetime Emmy Award.

Paul Bettany first became well-known for his roles in movies like Gangster No. 1 (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), and A Beautiful Mind (2001). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for playing Stephen Maturin in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). He also appeared in other popular films such as The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Paul Bettany even directed his own movie, Shelter (2014), which he also wrote and helped produce.

On television, he played Ian Campbell in the series A Very British Scandal (2021). On stage, he acted as Andy Warhol in the play The Collaboration (2022) in both London's West End and on Broadway.

Paul Bettany's Early Life

Paul Bettany was born in London, England, on May 27, 1971. His mother, Anne, was a singer and theatre teacher. His father, Thane Bettany, was a dancer and actor. Paul grew up in a Roman Catholic family. However, as he got older, he explored other Christian faiths before becoming an atheist. When Paul was young, his family lived on the school grounds of Queenswood School where his father taught.

A sad event happened when Paul was 16: his younger brother, Matthew, passed away at age 8. After this, Paul left school and his home. He became a street performer in London, playing his guitar for money. Later, he worked in a home for the elderly. After a year there, he decided to study acting at the Drama Centre London.

Paul Bettany's Acting Career

In 1990, at 19, Paul Bettany started his acting training at the Drama Centre London. His first stage role was in a play called An Inspector Calls in London's West End. He also performed in plays by the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Richard III and Romeo and Juliet. When he was 21, he appeared in a BBC TV show called Oliver Twist, playing Bill Sikes.

Paul Bettany made his first movie appearance in Bent, a film about the Holocaust. He continued to work in theatre and television. He then got his first main role in the movie Gangster No. 1. For this role, he was nominated for awards like Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards.

A director named Brian Helgeland was very impressed with Paul's acting. He cast Paul in the movie A Knight's Tale. This was Paul's first big Hollywood film. He received great reviews for his role as Chaucer in A Knight's Tale. After this, Brian Helgeland showed Paul's audition tape to other directors, including Ron Howard. Ron Howard then cast Paul in the movie A Beautiful Mind alongside Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly.

Paul Bettany's next big movie was Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, where he again starred with Russell Crowe. His role as Dr. Stephen Maturin earned him a BAFTA nomination. He was also named British Actor of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle.

In 2004, Paul Bettany joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He then starred in the romantic comedy Wimbledon with Kirsten Dunst. This movie also introduced him to Jon Favreau. Later, Favreau cast Paul as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the movie Iron Man. In 2005, Paul filmed Firewall with Harrison Ford. He also filmed The Da Vinci Code, playing a monk named Silas.

In 2008, Paul Bettany appeared in the fantasy movie Inkheart. In 2009, he played Charles Darwin in the film Creation, acting opposite his wife, Jennifer Connelly. In 2010, he was in The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. He also played the archangel Michael in Legion. He then starred in Priest and Margin Call in 2011.

Paul Bettany continued to voice J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), and Iron Man 3 (2013). In 2015, he made his first on-screen appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He played Vision again in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

Paul Bettany played Ted Kaczynski in the TV show Manhunt: Unabomber (2017). He also joined the cast of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), playing Dryden Vos. In 2021, Paul Bettany starred with Elizabeth Olsen in the Marvel TV series WandaVision. He played a new version of Vision in this show. Critics praised his performance, and he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

In 2021, Paul Bettany starred in the miniseries A Very British Scandal. He played artist Andy Warhol in the play The Collaboration in London in 2022. He is expected to play Andy Warhol again in a movie version of the play. He is also set to play businessman Alexander Nix in a film about the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Paul Bettany will return as Vision in the upcoming Disney+ series Vision Quest, which is planned for 2026.

Paul Bettany's Personal Life

On January 1, 2003, Paul Bettany married American actress Jennifer Connelly in Scotland. They met while filming A Beautiful Mind in 2001. Paul had a crush on Jennifer since he was a teenager after seeing her in the 1986 movie Labyrinth. After the September 11 attacks, he decided to tell her how he felt. He proposed to her even before they were officially dating! Soon after they got married, they moved to Brooklyn Heights. Paul and Jennifer have two children together. Paul is also a stepfather to Jennifer's son from a previous relationship.

Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Bent	Captain
1998	The Land Girls	Philip
2000	Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)	Jimmy
	Dead Babies	Quentin
	Gangster No. 1	Young Gangster
2001	A Knight's Tale	Geoffrey Chaucer
	A Beautiful Mind	Charles Herman
2002	The Heart of Me	Rickie
2003	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World	Dr. Stephen Maturin
	Dogville	Tom Edison
2004	The Reckoning	Nicholas
	Wimbledon	Peter Colt
2005	Stories of Lost Souls	Y	Segment: "Euston Road"
2006	Firewall	Bill Cox
	The Da Vinci Code	Silas
2008	Iron Man	J.A.R.V.I.S.	Voice
	The Secret Life of Bees	T. Ray Owens
	Inkheart	Dustfinger
2009	The Young Victoria	Lord Melbourne
	Creation	Charles Darwin
2010	Legion	Michael
	Iron Man 2	J.A.R.V.I.S.	Voice
	The Tourist	John Acheson
2011	Priest	Priest
	Margin Call	Will Emerson
2012	The Avengers	J.A.R.V.I.S.	Voice
2013	Iron Man 3
	Blood	Joe Fairburn
2014	Transcendence	Max Waters
	Shelter	N/A	Writer & director only
2015	Mortdecai	Jock Strapp
	Avengers: Age of Ultron	J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice) / Vision
	Legend	Charlie Richardson	Uncredited
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
2024	Here	Al Young
0TBA	The Collaboration	Andy Warhol	Post-production

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Wycliffe	Ian Greaves	1 episode
1996	The Bill	Jake Connolly
1997	Sharpe's Waterloo	Prince William of Orange	Television film
1998	Coming Home	Edward Carey-Lewis	Miniseries, 2 episodes
	Killer Net	Joe Hunter	Miniseries, 4 episodes
1999	Every Woman Knows a Secret	Rob	Miniseries, 3 episodes
2000	David Copperfield	James Steerforth	Television film
2017	Manhunt	Ted Kaczynski	Main role, 8 episodes
2021	WandaVision	Vision / Hex Vision	Miniseries, 9 episodes
	Marvel Studios: Assembled	Himself	Documentary; Episode: "Assembled: The Making of WandaVision"
	What If...?	Vision / J.A.R.V.I.S. (voice)	2 episodes: "What If... Zombies?!", "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?"
	A Very British Scandal	Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll	Miniseries, 3 episodes
2026	Vision Quest	Vision	Upcoming miniseries
0TBA	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri

Key

Denotes television series that have not yet been released

Theatre Performances

See also

In Spanish: Paul Bettany para niños