Paul Bettany has certainly had an interesting ride as of late, thanks to Marvel Studios. While he was merely the voice of JARVIS in the Iron Man films, and in the first Avengers, for Age of Ultron his part morphed into something altogether different. From a voice, to a flesh and blood superhero. An super-powered, omnipotent force with, perhaps, the most visually striking look of any of the other characters in the film. Now that’s an upgrade.

He’s set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in next May’s Captain America: Civil War. As such, he’s going to be asked a ton of questions over the next few months and- at a fan convention in the Philippines- he just graciously took the time to field several. In the quotes below, he tackles what his overall experience with Marvel Studios has been like, including a revelation about how Joss Whedon practically saved his career after he’d been told he was done in Hollywood.

Bettany on getting “the call” about shifting from JARVIS to Vision:

“I was sitting on the sidewalk of Sunset Boulevard having just come out of a meeting in the building behind me, having been told that my career is over by a producer. And my phone rang, and I answered my phone, and I said: ‘Hello.’ It was Joss Whedon. And Joss Whedon said: ‘Do you want to be a superhero in the next Avengers movie?’ I went: ‘YES!'”
 

On getting to know the men who make these films:

“That’s a true story. And you know, with people like Joss, people like Jeremy Latcham, people like Kevin Feige, you’re working with ‘the professors’ of these comics, these stories. They know them intimately and when they bend the rules, people trust them. They have grown up as fans themselves and are essentially continuing that in their grownup, adult lives. What is extraordinary, I think, about the pictures is you feel they’re made by fans. You feel that they’re made by people that love the stories and aren’t just trying to squeeze another buck out of it. They really care deeply about the quality of the material. So I was surrounded by lots of people that I could ask questions from.”

On obtaining a rare sense of career stability:

“Yeah, it’s really great. And also, as an actor, the other part of it is knowing that you have work in a year’s time. I’ve never had that. Do Jarvis, you should do Jarvis. No, find somebody else. Oh, I … It’s the first time in my life that I’ve had the security of knowing that I’ve got a couple of movies to make…”

Bettany also shed some light on how he views his new role, and the research involved:

“I was given comics. I also was looking to think about what could be edifying for me to learn. I took the opportunity—you see my character get born… something unlikely to ever happen to me again. He must be both omnipotent and yet totally naive at the same time. And experiencing the world in real time and his place in it. Is he going to be a force of good or a force of evil? It was really interesting, fun to play with, because he’s dangerous, you don’t know if he’s going to go one way or another. I’m continuing that theme in Captain America 3.”

Speaking of the third Cap film, Captain America: Civil War, Bettany revealed what was different about his second outing as Vision:

“In that, I got a little bit more used to the costume, which was uh—uh— (laughs) it was a lot of work! We all had a bit more fun. You know, there were more improvised jokes between me and [Robert] Downey Jr., and me and Chris Evans, and it was a really loose atmosphere on-set. It was one really loose set, it was great!”

He continued:

“It’s true. I would totally lie to you if it wasn’t, but I don’t have to lie. And we all get on. They’re all a really nice bunch of boys and girls. They’re all happy to be there. They’re being terribly well-paid, so they should be happy to be there. And work’s really creative and fun, you know? I got to be born on camera, you know, that’s unlikely to ever happen again.”

Bettany certainly sounds grateful for the experience, and like he’s enjoying the ride. We’ll get to experience his next Marvel appearance on May 6, 2016 when Captain America: Civil War comes out.

SOURCE: Philippine Entertainment Portal