Legion - Paul Bettany Interview, Comic Con
Paul Bettany says he always wanted to see himself sporting wings and carrying a machine gun on a gigantic poster hung at the San Diego Comic Con. And with his starring role in 'Legion', Bettany fulfilled that dream.
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Transcript: Legion - Paul Bettany Interview, Comic Con
Screen Gems' Legion at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.
Paul Bettany - 'Archangel Michael' in Legion
Paul Bettany: "Have you had Tyrese yet?"
Yes, I've had Tyrese.
Paul Bettany: "Oh, never follow Tyrese. This is unfair."
[Paul goes over to give Tyrese Gibson a hug.]
Tyrese Gibson: "Every time I hug him I just cry."
Paul Bettany: "He's a maelstrom. He's a force of nature."
Was he like that on the set? Is he like that all the time?
Paul Bettany: "Yes, which was good. We had a lot of night shoots and there's only so much coffee you can drink. So, he's like a double espresso."
He should be his own energy drink. We should bottle him.
Paul Bettany: "I could go home. He could sell the movie himself."
Except for he's being very good about not giving away too much.
Paul Bettany: "Right. Good."
He says you guys went through special training to not give away things.
Paul Bettany: "He's talking about five fumbled minutes in the next room."
That was the whole media training?
Paul Bettany: "'Don't mention the ending.' 'Okay, we won't.'"
He kept pointing out one of his co-stars and saying it's all because of her that everything is happening.
Paul Bettany: "You know, that's true. Yes. That's what it is. It's a supernatural thriller action movie, I guess. I play the Archangel Michael and God has lost faith in mankind and I haven't. So he's going to try and destroy mankind and I'm here to try and save everybody, with guns. Wings and guns..."
Because that's how Michael would be if he came to earth?
Paul Bettany: "I think so. My version of Michael is wings and guns."
What is this director like? He comes from a special effects background.
Paul Bettany: "Fantastic. Often when you work with a first time director, you get all of that sort of fervor and excitement and sometimes no knowledge. His whole life has been about analyzing shots and working out what makes that cool and trying to recreate it. And so he knows enormous amount about films. He's spent a lot of time on film sets. So you had all of that energy from a first time director and none of the downside. He had a lot of knowledge."
But is there most practical effects in this, rather than a lot of CG?
Paul Bettany: "A lot of CG. That's what it is. He ran The Orphanage which is a digital effects company."
Did you do a lot of your own stunts?
Paul Bettany: "I did do a lot of my own stunts. I did all of my stunts except for two that they wouldn't let me do. There's nothing that impressive about it except that I thought, 'I'm making an action movie,' and it's my first, 'and if I'm not doing the action, what am I doing?' So I wanted it to be an exciting experience so I wanted to do as much as I could. It was great being on wires. It was awesome. You just look like Bruce Lee immediately because you can flip and stuff. It's fantastic."