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 a famous English actor. He is very well known for playing the characters J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the exciting Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. You might have seen him in the Disney+ show WandaVision (2021), which even got him nominated for a big award called a Primetime Emmy Award. He will also be in the upcoming show Vision Quest in 2026.

Paul Bettany first became popular after appearing 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 his role as Stephen Maturin in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). He has also been in many other films, including The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Paul Bettany also directed his first movie, Shelter, in 2014, which he also wrote.

On television, he played Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll in the series A Very British Scandal. He also acted in the play The Collaboration as Andy Warhol in London and later on Broadway.

Paul Bettany's Early Life and Education

Paul Bettany was born in London, England, on May 27, 1971. His mother, Anne, was a stage singer and teacher. His father, Thane Bettany, was a dancer and actor. Paul grew up as a Roman Catholic. His family lived on the school grounds of Queenswood School, where his father taught.

When Paul was 16, his younger brother Matthew sadly passed away. After this, Paul left school and his home. He became a street performer in London, playing his guitar to earn money. After two years, he worked in a home for the elderly. Later, he decided to study acting at the Drama Centre in London. Paul also has dyslexia, which is a learning difference that makes reading harder.

Paul Bettany's Acting Career Highlights

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

Paul Bettany made his first movie appearance in Bent in 1997. He continued to work in theatre and television. His first main role in a movie was in Gangster No. 1. For this role, he was nominated for an award for Best Actor.

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

Paul Bettany worked with Russell Crowe again in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. He played a surgeon named Stephen Maturin. This role earned him a nomination for a BAFTA award.

In 2004, Paul Bettany was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is the group that gives out the Oscars. He also starred in the romantic comedy Wimbledon with Kirsten Dunst. In this movie, he met Jon Favreau, who later cast him as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Iron Man movie.

Paul Bettany continued to appear in many big movies. He played an Opus Dei monk named Silas in The Da Vinci Code (2006), which was based on the popular book. In 2008, he was in the fantasy movie Inkheart, playing a fire-eater named Dustfinger. He also played Charles Darwin in the movie Creation (2009), acting alongside his wife, Jennifer Connelly.

In 2010, Paul Bettany appeared with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist. He also played the archangel Michael in the movie Legion.

Paul Bettany kept voicing 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).

In 2017, Paul Bettany played Ted Kaczynski in the TV show Manhunt: Unabomber. He also joined the Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) movie, playing the character Dryden Vos.

In 2021, Paul Bettany starred with Elizabeth Olsen in the Marvel TV show WandaVision. He played a new version of his character, Vision. The show was very popular and received great reviews. Paul Bettany was nominated for several awards for his performance in WandaVision, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.

More recently, Paul Bettany starred in the miniseries A Very British Scandal in 2021. He also played the artist Andy Warhol in a play called The Collaboration in London and on Broadway. He is expected to play Andy Warhol again in a movie version of the play. Paul Bettany will also return as Vision in the upcoming Disney+ series Vision Quest in 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 events of September 11, 2001, Paul felt he needed to tell Jennifer how he felt. He proposed to her even before they were officially dating! Soon after they got married, they moved to Brooklyn Heights in New York. Paul and Jennifer have two children together. Paul is also a stepfather to Jennifer's son from a previous relationship.

Paul Bettany is good friends with actor Johnny Depp. They met in 2010 while working on the movie The Tourist.

Paul Bettany's 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
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	J.A.R.V.I.S.	Voice
	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
TBA	The Collaboration	Andy Warhol	Post-production

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Paul Bettany's Television Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Wycliffe	Ian Greaves	1 episode
1996	The Bill	Jake Connolly	1 episode
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
TBA	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	Upcoming miniseries

Key

Denotes television series that have not yet been released

Paul Bettany's Theatre Performances

Awards and Nominations for Paul Bettany

See also

In Spanish: Paul Bettany para niños