‘Wandavision’ Star Paul Bettany Says Lifting Thor’s Hammer and ‘Dying Twice’ Were His Favorite Moments as Vision
Paul Bettany has seen a surge in popularity since joining the cast of Marvel’s new Disney+ series Wandavision. In the show, he plays Vision, a role he reprised after starring in the Avengers film franchise.
Although Bettany has had a bunch of scenes in several Avengers films, there are a few, in particular, that resonated with him the most.
Bettany recently revealed he got the most joy out of lifting Thor’s hammer in Age of Ultron and dying twice in Infinity War, believe it or not.
Paul Bettany enjoyed lifting Thor’s hammer in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’
Bettany opened up about his favorite moments during a recent interview with BBC Radio 1. He admitted that lifting Thor’s hammer was a great moment for him, especially when he got to see fan reactions.
“Yeah, loved that moment, and loved being in an audience and watching everybody react to that,” Bettany said. “Like, the fans, the real dyed in the wool fans, just went, ‘Oh no!’ And it was—that was great.”
He really loved dying twice in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
Aside from his unforgettable moment with Thor, Bettany also got a kick out of Vision’s multiple death scenes in Avengers: Infinity War.
“I really loved dying twice … I really loved when the Russos came up to me and Lizzie and were like, ‘Can you just um’—and he was laughing because he knew what a difficult request it was—and went, ‘Can you just like, improvise around the death scene,” Bettany said.
The scene was particularly amusing for Bettany because he was required to improve his lines during such an intense scene.
“They would just improvise the dialogue and I went, ‘Improvise the dialogue from an android whose girlfriend is killing him … And so we did it, and somehow some brilliant editor somewhere cut out all the really embarrassing bits,” Bettany said.
The Marvel Studios team loved his work in ‘Iron Man’
Bettany became a mainstay in the Marvel cinematic universe after landing a role in Iron Man, one of the most iconic films Marvel Studios created. According to Bettany, he could barely afford rent when he initially signed on for Iron Man, and director Jon Favreau gave him a blunt offer.
“Jon Favreau rung me up and said, ‘Um, Paul, I’m looking for somebody that has absolutely no personality at all to play a robot in this,’” Bettany recalled. “I obviously, I went, ‘I’m in John, I’m in!” Bettany said. “And yeah, that’s exactly how he pitched it to me.”
Luckily, the production team loved his work so much that they offered him the role of Vision later on.
“They loved me because after they’d shot the movie and something wasn’t making sense, and then they spent millions on CGI to make it make sense,” Bettany said. “If it still didn’t make sense they could just have me go, ‘Oh my God, the baddies are coming up on your left, sir!’ And it would be clear, and they go, ‘Oh my God, this guy’s a genius.”
