How Did Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly Meet? Their Sweet Love Story Should Be a Movie
WandaVision star Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, star of the TNT series Snowpierecer, are married. The celebrity couple has decades of career experience in Hollywood, including numerous popular films between them. But the story of how they met and lived happily ever after could be made into a hit movie itself.
Jennifer Connelly began acting as a child
Connelly started modeling when she was a kid. She then made her way into acting, appearing in films like Once Upon a Time in America. Connelly quickly transitioned into starring roles with Phenomena and Seven Minutes in Heaven. But it was her role in the cult classic Labyrinth that brought her mainstream attention.
“It’s an interesting way to grow up, being so watched from the outside without really having time alone to sort of get through it all,” Connelly told The Guardian in 2002 of spending her adolescence as an actor. “It really took me a while to come into my own, I think.” She also said she “felt like a kind of walking puppet.”
Paul Bettany started performing later in life
Across the pond, Bettany began to study acting as an adult. He appeared in numerous theatrical productions before making his small-screen debut in the mid-’90s. Among his early film roles was the 2000 British comedy Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang), not to be confused with MCU co-star Robert Downey Jr.‘s 2005 movie of the same name.
These days, Bettany is best known for his Marvel role. He first voiced J.A.R.V.I.S., the artificial intelligence assistant to Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man. He did the same for its sequels and The Avengers. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, he finally gets form as the Vision. Bettany reprised this role in multiple MCU films and the Disney+ series WandaVision.
Connelly and Bettany met when they worked together
In December 2001, the acclaimed film A Beautiful Mind premiered. The autobiographical drama starred Russell Crowe as famed mathematician John Nash. Connelly portrayed Alicia, Nash’s student, who he later married, while Bettany played Charles Herman, his college roommate.
For both Connelly and Bettany, A Beautiful Mind marked a turning point in their careers — the former a revitalization and the latter a bridge to fame. The movie earned eight Academy Award nominations. Of these, it won four Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Connelly.
Bettany recounts how they got together
Unlike many co-stars, Connelly and Bettany didn’t date while filming. But a year after production, on September 11, 2001, Bettany realized he was in love with Connelly. “Like so many people’s lives, in that moment, mine was changed forever,” he told Larry King in 2015 of seeing the twin towers fall on TV.
“I spent two days trying to call this woman that I sort of barely knew,” he explained. “Finally, I got her on the phone and said, ‘I’m coming over, and let’s get married.'” Despite the circumstances, she agreed. Bettany moved to New York City to be with her, and they married in 2003. Together, they have two children.
