Paul Bettany’s having a big summer, and almost none of it was planned. As Dryden Vos, the main antagonist in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Bettany replaced the initially cast Michael K. Williams after scheduling conflicts caused by the ousting of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. As The Vision in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, Bettany has taken the long way around: First he performed as the voice of Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant J.A.R.V.I.S., before the decision was made to place his code into a physical, purple, synthetic body in 2015’s Age of Ultron and have Bettany appear on-screen in the role himself.
It’s a blockbuster year for an actor who’s made his name in smaller roles and quieter films. His (quite literally) haunting performance in A Beautiful Mind is one of the movie’s standouts, and many will remember his appearances in mid-2000s kitsch classics A Knight’s Tale and Wimbledon. Guy’s got range.
In person, Bettany is thoughtful and forthright, alternating between statue-still, sphynx-like observations from behind tinted glasses and leaning-forward non-negotiable philosophies. GQ sat down with Bettany to discuss his many lives (and deaths) that play out on movie screens this summer, how Ron Howard changed Solo for the better, and how much of that tennis training for Wimbledon paid off.
GQ: So you were brought in in the middle of Solo, right?
Paul Bettany: Oh, I wouldn't say "I was brought in." I had begged Ron Howard. I said I really wanted to be in it in some way. I thought I wouldn't be able to because I'm in the Avengers franchise, and they don't cross-pollinate that much. I begged. I didn't know that that meant he was gonna put me in as the main bad guy. I thought maybe I'd be a Stormtrooper or something just for fun.
You came in after Phil Lord and Chris Miller had departed and Ron Howard took over.
Yes.
How was the vibe on set? Was there an extra element of worry? Of rushing?
There's nearly always, on films of this budget, more than one director. There's a second-unit director, there's often a stunt coordinator who is sometimes directing shots. And so, from talking to the other actors and crew on [Solo], it didn't feel that much of a drama, to be honest with you. By the time I showed up, Ron had steadied the ship.
You've collaborated with Ron Howard a few times, in Da Vinci Code—
And I worked with him on A Beautiful Mind. He'd also really helped me with my movie that I directed. We've spent a lot of time together over the years, so it felt very natural.
What's amazing, I think, about Ron... I remember feeling so proud of him. When he started on Solo, he called a script meeting. He invited, obviously, the Kasdans [screenwriters Lawrence and Jonathan], but he also invited the actors and he invited me, who had just arrived. And we all sat in the room and he really engaged with everybody's ideas. I was really impressed by the fact that after all that he's done, and all the success that he's had, the conclusion that he's come to is that his success comes from listening to other people.
So let's talk a bit more about Dryden Vos, who I thought is pretty cool. How would you describe his relationship with Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra?
I think he sees a kindred spirit in Qi'ra, and I think they probably grew up in a very similar way. I imagine he's come up on the streets. I think of him as sort of El Chapo, mixed with a sort of oligarch. Somewhere where there is no separation between.
I think he probably sees it as...you have a responsibility to know what your talents are, and if your talents are hurting people, then accept who you are. It's actually the thing that I like about Dryden most: He's got no neuroses. He's got no guilt. He is what he is. He's, you know, an apex predator. So why wouldn't I go around eating things?
He's a crime boss and, we find out, under the tutelage of a famous character we've seen before. But what do you think is his main goal at the end of all of this?
He's a capitalist, so he just wants to grow. Grow and grow and grow and grow and acquire more and more and more things. People and armies and planets.
Get his own Death Star.
Yeah.
What was your relationship with the Star Wars movies before you came onto this one?
It was very warm and fuzzy. My relationship with Star Wars is that I'm old enough that I saw it when it first came out—A New Hope, that is—and it was like when Dorothy steps out of black and white into Technicolor. I was transported from a gray miserable 1970s London into a different galaxy, and I didn't know what it was, but I wanted to be a part of it. And 40 years later, I did.
There was a lot of talk around Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, whether another actor could possibly step into that role. How did it feel working with him, as a character you'd seen and loved all those years ago?
I was intimidated to meet Alden, because I'd seen him in the Coen brothers movie Hail, Caesar!, which he stole. And it's very hard to steal a Coen brothers movie from all the other actors that are chewing up the scenery and also the Coen brothers, who are the stars of their own movies.
But the thing is, he didn't have to be Han Solo. He had to be somebody becoming Han Solo, because the movie's...it's about what forces were at work that taught Han Solo that it's better to shoot first than second. And that's the movie.
Now, you're also The Vision, who truly is my favorite of the Marvel Universe characters. He's so weird and so pure.
He's super weird.
You technically die three times in movies this summer.
Yes, I did. That's my thing.
That might be a record. What was your favorite one?
Ooooh, I don't know. I think that being murdered by the love of your life [Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen] because you're asking them to is pretty moving stuff that they wrote for us.
A lot of your relationship with Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda happens off-screen. How did you two go about building this chemistry that we're mostly meant to take for granted?
Well, I don't believe in chemistry.
Okay, let's talk about that.
I know it's not real, because I've seen it too many times, actors that hate each other and it be amazing and everybody goes, "Oh, yeah, but that's a different kind of chemistry." No it's not. Often, they can't get your eye line tight enough to look at the person, to the actual actor, so they'll put a cross of tape right on the camera. And you'll be playing a love scene to a sticker. And it's impossible to have chemistry with that. So I resist the idea of there being on-screen chemistry. I think it's something that people like to say without thinking.
So you really don't think there's any kind of relationship between actors that can't be modulated?
I 100 percent can prove that it can be modulated. I don't even need CG to modulate it—you could be looking at me in the scene, and I can just flip the negative and you're looking the other way and saying the same things to whoever, which is gonna change the relationship toward me.
But it so happens that Lizzy and I just get on really well with each other, and she's super professional and, you know, she's never late. And I'm never late, and I love that. Because when you've got three kids and a life to be living and somebody's half an hour late to set, you start to get a little bit like, "Come on. Come on, let's get this done."
So punctuality is better and realer than chemistry?
I didn't say that, you did. I just said that it can all be modulated and I've had chemistry—what people think is chemistry—with a piece of tape on a matte box.
What are your aspirations going forward? Are you looking to write and direct again?
There are lots of things I wanna do. I'm writing a lot at the moment, and that's lovely. I've never worked with anybody that I've said I wanted to work with in the press, so I tend to stay very quiet about that.
I hope I'm not making you wary with a question like that.
No, no. Just, I once said, "I'd love to work for Martin Scorsese." I've never worked for Martin Scorsese. I once said I wanted to work for Jacques Audiard. I've never worked for Jacques Audiard. So now I've stopped saying the people that I'd love to work for.
One last thing: How good are you at tennis in real life?
Terrible. I was terrible at the time. I did eight months of training for Wimbledon, and then by the time I finished the movie another four months later, I was like, "That's me, I'm done with tennis." Now I'll play. But I'll play with a gin and tonic in my hand and a wooden racket in the other. That's my style.
Styled by Alicia Lombardini
Grooming by Jillian Halouska
