10 Things I Learned From Paul Bettany- Vision Captain America: Civil War

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Disclosure- I was invited by Disney to attend this all expense paid press trip but all opinions are 100% my own.

Photo Credit- Coralie Seright from Lovebugs and Postcards

Photo Credit- Coralie Seright from Lovebugs and Postcards

Last month while in LA for the Captain America: Civil War event we had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Bettany who plays Vision. He was quite charming and I could have listened to his British accent all day. He sat down and joking around our interview started like this….

“Excellent.  Marvelous.  Thank you very much.  What can I do for you all?  Probably wondering why I brought you all here?”

SUCH A KIDDER! So here are 10 things we learned from Paul Bettany:

1. Can you tell us about the makeup process and the struggles with that?

Yeah, it was hot.  You all come out of your air-conditioned trailers in your costume and makeup and everybody’s looking rather like super heroes and movie stars.  And then 5 minutes later in 105 [degree] Atlanta weather, you look a lot less like a movie star.  Both me and Chadwick have this special suit that goes on underneath.  Which pumps ice cold water through it.  Yes it is nice. If you can imagine, close your eyes and imagine being inside a gin and tonic.  It feels exactly like that.

2. How much of it was like costume and make up?  And how much of it was CGI?

It’s mostly costume and makeup.  And then there’s some sort of circuitry, I don’t know how to describe it.  They’re lines — basically, the makeup starts from under my eyes and goes all the way under the bald cap.  What the CG does is continue the lines and circuitry into my eyes so they weren’t contacts. They stopped short of that.

3. How many hours did it take for you for full costume, full make up to be ready?

Two and a quarter hours initially. It was somewhere between an hour and a half and 2 hours when everybody’s rusty and they’re starting off again.  Then they quickly get it down to about an hour.  Which is frankly amazing for the transformation that they achieve.  And then the costume is about 45 minutes.  So, you really have to plan how you’re hydrating yourself because that’s a 45 minute reset when you [need to take off the costume].

Photo Credit- Marvel

Photo Credit- Marvel

4. How do you personally relate to Vision?

I have to relate to him as a human being, because I am.  And I’ve never met a synthetic person.  Although, in Los Angeles I question whether I have a lot.  It’s funny.  I imagine a child.  A clever child who can do anything almost and is forced into a situation of having to grow up very quickly.  Hasn’t happened to me yet, personally.  But, that’s how I do.

5. We asked Paul if he could put to rest any rumors about playing Bond and he very coyly replied:

It’s an impossible question.  It’s very flattering. Talking about it really dismantles your ability to negotiate.  Were such a negation gonna take place. I don’t known of one.  So, I can’t confirm or deny.

6. You’re a director now yourself.  Is it different being on the other end?

Yeah and I think more actors should do it.  It really gives you much more of a respect for the directors that you work with.  And I really enjoyed my own period of being an actor and just enjoying my responsibility [as an actor] because you’re obviously taking care of a much larger picture as the director. And your day is just filled with a thousand questions.  99% of which are what color do you want the red shoes to be?  What? And then 1% of them being absolutely are one of the questions that are gonna make you old.  It’s been amazing.  And I loved doing it.  And will do it again.  I’ll do a comedy next time.

Vision (Paul Bettany) Photo Credit: Film Frame © Marvel 2016

Vision (Paul Bettany)
Photo Credit: Film Frame
© Marvel 2016

7. You were the voice of Jarvis and now Tony Stark has a new voice in his head.  Do you feel betrayed that it’s a woman?

That’s a loaded question.  I don’t feel betrayed that it’s a woman at all. I definitely feel melancholic at times.  I don’t go, “oh, where’s my Jarvis?”

8. I read that you hadn’t watched the Iron Man movies in the beginning.  Have you watched them now?

When you work you enter an interview with a journalist where they ask you, have you seen the movies?  And you say, “oh no, I haven’t seen the movies”.  And then you go on to say, but then I don’t really see 80% of the movies that I’m in.  But they don’t use that bit because it’s a much more eye catching headline “Bettany doesn’t watch the Iron Man movies”.  So, no, I did my homework and I watched them all.  And I really loved them.  I think that the stories are becoming more and more rich and complex and I think you see that in this movie.  That both in terms of the interpersonal relationships between all of the super heroes and also broader, often these sorts of movies are just plain escapism. Actually this movie talks about some of the things that we sometimes want to escape from.  You know, like, unilateral intervention from a super power is really what on one level, this film talks about.  And the need for a strong regulatory body.  And that’s pretty topical stuff.  Which is amazing for a movie that’s this broad and this much of a popular movie and this much of a popular franchise. I think to touch on those sort of subjects is kind of great.

9. What was it like being his voice for all those movies and then finally becoming a character?

Well, I just love it.  I mean, it’s a double-edged sword, of course because I used to show up for 45 minutes, talk a bit and they’d give me a big bag of cash.  Now I gotta got to Atlanta and wear spanks.  But no.  It’s been so much fun. I loved doing it and I look forward to it when the date is set for the next one. You meet a bunch of people that you know and it’s like coming back to a family.  It’s lovely.

10. How do your kids feel about having a superhero in the house now?

They love it actually.  My daughter met me as the Vision for the first time and I think she was just three.  Or maybe just even about to turn three.  And she just ran up to me and gave me a hug.  She knew entirely who it was. I was very worried about what her response would be.  Then at the end of the day when I took it all off she had her first ever meltdown.  She said, “I want purple daddy!” Which, as I’m sure you can all imagine was a little depressing.

Paul Bettany

Photo Credit- Coralie Seright from Lovebugs and Postcards

Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters this week on May 6th!!!

Check your local theater listings because you might even be able to see a showing on May 5th in the evening. I’m so excited because I already bought tickets to see it with my family Thursday night!
Here’s a sneak peek to hold you over until you can see it in theaters:

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