Here's What Paul Bettany Has Said About Working On 'The Da Vinci Code'
Paul Bettany has been in touch with God before. He's played a couple of priests, a demon-fighting angel, and most memorably, the self-flagellating assassin monk, Silas in The Da Vinci Code.
Let's just say the albino would probably have some choice words about Bettany's new character Vision returning from the dead (and how he somehow fathered twins as a synthezoid). Silas versus Vision would be a sight to see.
Anyone who was trying to prove that Jesus had a son ended up on the receiving end of one of Silas' whopping fists. Bettany's co-star Tom Hanks often felt Silas' wrath almost a little too much.
But Bettany loved playing the iconic character and took on the role because he related to him. Despite often being in serious, life-or-death scenes as the monk, Bettany was able to find time to fool around on set with his co-stars.
Here's what Bettany has said about his time playing the sinner.
Silas Packed A Punch Hanks Wasn't Ready For
The Da Vinci Code is as serious a film as mass itself. The plot was just as controversial in the real world as it was in the film and saw Hank's character, Robert Langdon, hurriedly traveling from cathedral to cathedral to find out the secrets of the Priory of Sion, and who murdered Jacques Saunière, a Louvre curator.
Despite the serious nature of the film, there were scenes where the decibel level went higher than a whisper in church...or louder than a fart in church.
Back in 2019, in an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Hanks revealed that during one of his and Bettany's fight scenes, he was punch so hard that the other actor actually punched a fart out of him.
"Paul came rushing in and I met him and what had to happen- he was supposed to knock me down against a desk and then I landed on the ground," Hanks said. "And the way it sounded was [grunts, yells, fart noise]."
"I farted," he whispered. "When I hit the floor. I farted." He'll never forget this, and it's made him dislike fight scenes.
Stephen Colbert brought up the story to Bettany recently, and the actor confirmed it. He explained it happened during his first-ever scene with Hanks, and he was, understandably, very nervous. But making him fart accidentally only made him more nervous. What could be more embarrassing? For both of them!
"I had to grab him and I had to punch him in the stomach and it's very quiet on set… It's always more quiet when there's a stunt going on because you're worried somebody's gonna get hurt," Bettany said.
"So, everybody's listening, and I punched him in the stomach and he farted really, really, really loudly. But really loudly. I didn't know what the form was. What do you do when the biggest movie star in the world farts? I kinda looked at him… and he went, 'What is wrong with you? You just made me fart!'"
Bettany "never reached those heights again."Bettany Related To Silas
Bettany didn't just enjoy playing Silas because he got to punch a fart out of Hanks. He really enjoyed playing the albino assassin because he was able to relate to certain things about him. According to him, Silas got a satisfying ending and it inspired him. "I had so much fun doing it," Bettany told The Guardian of playing Silas. "It's just having something meaty and complicated but sort of clear. He starts off his life, and he's called a ghost by his dad. Ends up killing his dad. Goes to prison. Escapes prison. Is saved by this bishop called Aringarosa who he in turn saves, and he calls him an angel. And suddenly there's a purpose to who he is and how good he is at hurting people, and he becomes a sort of weapon for that man and then he ends up, his portion of the story becomes ... I love the word portion! It sounds sort of lewd ...""But, anyway, Silas finishes off his portion of the story calling himself a ghost. And I actually felt invigorated by the part. It felt good. And I enjoyed acting again - 'cos I hadn't for a couple of years."Bettany was raised a Catholic but had lost touch with the church in his adult years. He felt strange about going into churches again because he'd only gone in them for funerals. "I feel truly wowed by the architecture and the meaning of the architecture if you get lost in it and think about the man-hours in the smallest little chapel, and the love involved. God, it's fantastic."[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLYyYO0ydKA[/EMBED_YT]It was also surprising to him that The Da Vinci Code ended up being a film that caused such a stir in the religion."I think next to The Last Temptation of Christ it's Tonka Toys," he said. "Nobody seemed to get offended by Martin Scorsese's movie, no one seemed to get offended when Francis Coppola made a movie where he suggested that the mafia and the Vatican were in cahoots. Nobody picketed that. I play a monk who murders people, but it's no more a comment on monks than it is on people who wear sandals. Or big long brown dresses."
Despite the backlash that the film received, Bettany was just glad to have been able to play a character he could relate to in some small way. He liked that they both need affirmation. "With Silas is he wants an affirmation. And I need endless affirmation - I'm a neurotic actor."
Bettany has always been one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood, and Silas played a big part in his success. It's crazy that he was told that his career was dead before he got Vision because he's had some great performances and can play such a great evil monk. Maybe Marvel heard about the Hanks story and thought he'd pack a punch as Vision too. Unfortunately, though, Vision couldn't punch the farts out of Thanos.
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