Bad behaviour
After Firewall and The Da Vinci Code, Paul Bettany says, 'Just call me Villian Boy'
HOLLYWOOD -- Nice guys may finish last, but at least they get to be movie stars.
That's the wisdom from Richard Loncraine, the director of the Harrison Ford thriller Firewall.
"It's kind of an unwritten law in film that if you want to be a movie star you don't play villains," explained Loncraine, in a recent interview. "I tried to turn Paul Bettany into a romantic leading man in Wimbledon and I failed, but I'm proud to say, in Firewall, he's one of the nastiest villains you never want to meet."
In the film, opening Friday, Bettany is a master criminal who terrorizes a bank security expert's family so the man (Ford) will help him tap into the bank's computer system.
And, on May 19, Bettany will star in the flashy role as the albino assassin monk opposite Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code.The Internet is buzzing with reports he will be playing the Joker in the next Batman movie.
"Just call me Villain Boy," says Bettany, who then takes time to explain why he chose to take the bad-guy roles in Firewall and The Da Vinci Code.
"When you're offered the chance to star opposite Harrison Ford you don't ask which role. You ask when they need you on set. Harrison is a film icon. I was eight years old when I saw him in Star Wars. He's been one of my movie heroes ever since. It was a bonus that the villain I play has so many verbal and physical confrontations with Harrison."
And no, Bettany, 37, did not bring up the whole childhood hero worship thing with Ford, 63.
" Harrison is one tough s.o.b. You don't want to get him angry at you."
Bettany speaks from experience when he praises Ford's physical prowess and stamina.
The two men have an intense physical fight in Firewall.
"I had to throw him though a window seven times to get all the camera angles they needed.
"Each time he got up and then proceeded to rebuild the window. There is also a time when one of my punches sends him reeling. We did it a few times and he finally said he wanted to actually feel the punch so he could react properly.
"I think he was saying I was being a wimp."
Bettany certainly didn't hesitate when he was offered the assassin's role in The Da Vinci Code.
"Did I consider not doing it? Not for a second.
"Let's see. Working with Ron Howard and Tom Hanks and the fact the book sold 60 million copies worldwide was incentive enough for me."
As far as the whole Joker rumour goes, Bettany insists he's "only ever heard that rumour from journalists who've read it on some fan website.
"I enjoyed Batman Begins very much but I can't start saying how much I'd like to be in the sequel or they'll try to get me really cheap."
Bettany won't be working any time soon.
He's heading off to Africa with his wife, actress Jennifer Connelly and their sons Stellan and Kai.
"Jennifer is going to shoot Blood Diamond for Edward Zwick, with Leonardo DiCaprio. It's her turn to work now. She did the family thing so I could shoot Firewall and The Da Vinci Code."
Bettany and Connelly, who met filming A Beautiful Mind, are vowing not to work at the same time. "In our house, one of us works while the other doesn't.
"The true privilege of earning lots of money is to use it to have a great family life."- By Louis B. Hobson, Sun Media
