Paul Bettany Interview, LEGION

Scripted by Stewart and Peter Schink, the thriller casts Bettany as the archangel Michael, the only one standing between mankind and an apocalypse, after God loses faith in humanity. Man's lone hope rests with a group of strangers who must deliver a baby they realize is Christ in his second coming.

MoviesOnline sat down recently with Paul Bettany at Comic-Con to talk about his upcoming film in which he plays the Archangel Michael. Here’s what he had to tell us about the apocalyptic thriller directed by Scott Stewart:

Q: The last time I spoke to you, you were talking about this movie. What are the challenges of getting into the role of an angel?

PAUL BETTANY: You know what? It’s the sort of part that that movie is really allowed, isn’t it? How was it? It was a lot of fun. Scott came and pitched this movie to me and it was the greatest pitch I’ve ever received. His presentation was so slick. I said, “Wow. This sounds really fun.” And then he said, “We’re going to do angels, but they’re going to be tooled up with loads of weapons.” So then, I started going on the internet and looking at pictures of angels and they’re all tooled up with weapons actually. (Laughs) They really are with armor and spears and swords. So, we didn’t actually stray that far from that image except we gave him guns.

Q: What kind of angel is he?

PAUL BETTANY: He’s Archangel Michael, in fact, who was apparently the first to fall down and worship mankind. Then, in our story, he’s the last because he’s the last to turn his back on them because he won’t. God has turned his back on mankind and Archangel Michael hasn’t lost faith.

Q: Should we expect this movie to raise some profound questions or is it going to be much more action?

PAUL BETTANY: It’s going to be much more action.

Q: Is it philosophical?

PAUL BETTANY: There is really nothing philosophical about it. I wish you could have seen what they just played. It’s the first time I’ve seen any footage from it and I was absolutely bowled over. It looked so exciting. It really did. I was like, “Whoa!” It’s just epic. There’s large rockets.

Q: What does Frosty Treats have to do with your movie?

PAUL BETTANY: Oh, I tell you what, he’s the ice cream man and the ice cream man has been possessed. A lot of possessed people come and he’s an ice cream man but he’s not selling ice cream any more. He’s got incredibly sharp teeth and the ability to dislocate his jaw down to here.

Q: That sounds fabulous.

PAUL BETTANY: It’s amazing and he’s so brilliant physically. He turns his body, it dislocates and CG takes over. He can run like a spider. It’s quite extraordinary.

Q: How does he come into this?

PAUL BETTANY: Well, there are possessed people from all walks of life. Instead of a flood, this is what has been sent, I guess. This is the apocalypse. There’s this endless stream of zombie-like possessed people.

Q: Is this just pure fantasy or …?

PAUL BETTANY: No, it actually happened to me. (Laughs)

Q: When you say God loses faith in mankind, is there a message or zeitgeist?

PAUL BETTANY: I don’t know. I don’t think zeitgeist applies here because I think since the first lightening bolt hit earth and frightened a caveman, they went, “Oh my God! God is about to kill us.” I think it’s an ongoing fear and fantasy for people so I don’t think it’s ever gone away.

Q: Does it have a message?

PAUL BETTANY: I hope not (laughs) because my message is that human beings are alright. I really think they’re alright. Everybody’s really down on us but I think they’re alright.

Q: But as Archangel Michael, you are our last hope?

PAUL BETTANY: That’s a lot of pressure. Fuck it, I’ll step up because I’m an actor. Listen, we set out to make a roller coaster, rip roaring, fun, shoot ‘em up, action thriller, escapist movie. Then, I finished that job and then I went to play Charles Darwin. I did that for a lot of different reasons, that movie. But, this movie, I wanted to…I’d never been in an action movie before, and you know what? If I am in a similar sort of movie, I’m usually the bad guy. So, it was really flattering and fun to be the hero in this one, be a good guy.

Q: Can you talk about how they created this movie visually?

PAUL BETTANY: Well, there’s a lot. To go into the minutia of it, we wanted his silhouette to look like a Western, the length of the coat. Essentially, it’s Scott’s vision and Scott came to see me in New York with an incredibly clear vision and I think he felt the pressure to pitch to me this kind of small, art house movie. And I was like, “Are you making a film with zombies in it because I really want to be in a film with zombies.” Forget all that. I’ll get that somewhere else. I’ll get that fix somewhere else. I wanted to be in an action movie. I think it looks beautiful. The colors are extraordinary. For years, we’ve been seeing a lot of blue films and a lot of green films and this is absolutely Technicolor and visually quite stunning. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Q: What was more challenging:  doing this or playing Charles Darwin?

PAUL BETTANY: They’re entirely separate problems. Well both had a bit of a physical problem in that straight after this I had to put on about 45 pounds for Darwin and that was just a lot of sandwiches. But, apart from that, this was gymnasium. The job was to get myself fit and to be good with weapons and to be able to do stunts and to be able to do all of that, whereas the Darwin film was the diametrical opposite of that.

Q: So, it’s very internal?

PAUL BETTANY: Yeah. It was an amazing experience and an incredibly fulfilling year work-wise to go from a sort of childhood fantasy of action movie to making a film that I feel really emotional about.

Q: You worked with Jennifer (Connelly)?

PAUL BETTANY: Yeah, which was amazing, getting to work with my wife. I think we were both very nervous about it because it’s hard to… It could potentially be very difficult to work with somebody you know and love and go home with at the end of the night. You can’t slag off your leading actress to your wife because it’s your wife. However, it ended up being the easiest working relationship that I’ve had and it was fantastic. I am really proud of the results. I really am. She’s amazing in it. It’s a really beautiful film.

Q: Did you go through a casting process for Legion?

PAUL BETTANY: I don’t know the story of the casting of Legion. That’s a question for that man, there (indicating the director). He’ll be able to answer that.

Q: Did they just call you and offer you this job?

PAUL BETTANY: Oh yes. That’s right. But, I don’t know if they had offered it to somebody else before. No, I didn’t audition.

Q: Is there anything that stood out most while you were filming this?

PAUL BETTANY: Yes, actually there’s a bunch of stuff. I mean, Tyrese, who you will meet, is a force of nature. He’s like a double expresso when we work. Honestly, it’s extraordinary. We were up a lot late at night shooting because a lot of it obviously takes place at night and he really kept everybody up. But the thing that I remember the most, I suppose, is there’s a big battle at the end of the film between myself, Archangel Michael, and Archangel Gabriel played by Kevin Durand who is fucking enormous. He’s taller than me. He’s like 6’7,” 6’8,” something like that. He’s just fuckin’ huge. Throughout the filming of the movie, we were learning piece by piece and rehearsing this very complicated fight at the end of the battle between us at the end of the film. Consequently, I got really close to the stunt guys who were amazing. I think that the filming of that was – because that’s what it’s all about, it’s an action movie and you’re doing the action sequence at the end – so fulfilling in a kind of boyhood fantasy way of making movies.

Q: You’ve never done an action movie before?

PAUL BETTANY: No.

Q: Have you been a fan of the Apocalyptic escapist genre?

PAUL BETTANY: Yeah, I love it. Listen, I say it so often in interviews. I love movies and that means all movies. I love romantic comedies. I loved Let the Right One In. I love a big blockbuster action movie. I love Mike Lee films. I love films. You know, I’m really… I love Lars von Trier films. I love films and I will defend my right to be in as many different types of them as I can.

Q: What do you love about acting if you have so much love for movies?

PAUL BETTANY: I think I love films more than I love acting. I think that’s true.

Q: To watch, you mean?

PAUL BETTANY: Yeah, and I like being involved with film.

Q: What are you doing next?

PAUL BETTANY: The thing I’m doing next is a movie called Priest with that man over there again (referring to Scott Stewart who is interviewing at the next table). We’re teaming up again.

Q: Is it an action film about a priest?

PAUL BETTANY: It is. It’s an action film about a priest vampire killer set in an alternate reality.

Q: Interesting.

PAUL BETTANY: It’s a graphic novel. It’s a fantastic graphic novel called Priest, funnily enough, and it’s awesome.

“Legion” is scheduled to be released theatrically in January 2010