Sometimes the demands of successive film roles can be their own kind of hell. Before playing the title role in Priest, actor Paul Bettany had put on “
about 45” pounds to portray Charles Darwin in the film Creation, a bit of bulk he couldn’t afford when it came to doing most of his own stunts in Priest. With plenty of hand-to-hand combat, intricate wire-rig sequences and intense motorcycle scenes, Bettany had to slim back down to fighting physique and then some. He’s glad he went through it all, even if it was difficult and, at times, downright insane.
“I was on a motorbike alongside the train and I had to stand up and jump onto it,” Bettany recalls. “And I did think, ‘What on earth am I doing?’ But I trained for nine months to get physically fit enough for the job. I really wanted to do as much of the action as I could.”
But no matter how much training and preparation is involved, accidents can still happen. Karl Urban, who portrays the villainous Black Hat in the film, remembers one particularly crushing ordeal that Bettany had to endure. “There’s one sequence where Paul is dangling over the side of the train holding Lucy,” Urban says. “I’m supposed to stomp on his hand. The first take, I missed his hand completely, but the heel of my boot caught his finger. He let out this yell and I thought, ‘My God, he’s such a good actor!’ Then I instantly realized what had happened. … Thankfully nothing was broken and he was right back on set giving it his all.”
“Priest” is now showing on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
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© 2011 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
