Paul Bettany Talks Legion
While at Comic-Con, Dread Central had a chance to catch up with actor Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale, The DaVinci Code) to find out more about his upcoming film Legion, in which he plays Michael, the archangel. However, this time Michael is packing a little more than God as a weapon.
Bettany discussed the new spin on his character by saying, “It’s funny, but when Scott (Stewart, director) told me I was going to be a warrior angel, I went and looked up online warrior angels. I was surprised to see that in almost every image they have online there is an angels with swords, breastplates, and spears. So the idea of a warrior angel isn’t necessarily new, but the difference is that I have guns. Lots and lots of guns.”
Bettany also talked about how much he enjoyed working with first-time director Stewart on Legion and why he believes in the visual side of storytelling.
“Scott had all the fervor and excitement of a first-time director with none of the pitfalls,” explained Bettany. “His career up to this point was being a visual effects guy so he really knows how to make things work on camera. Scott was always able to communicate what he wanted, and as an actor that’s all you need with a director. It’s up to you to do your best from there.”
The British actor also dished on the massive amount of body tattoos Michael was covered in and what the history is behind them.
Bettany said, “There was an angel language that was created by someone who was a spiritual guide to Queen Elizabeth I who claimed to be in direct communication with angels.”
“My tattoos mean one thing when you read them forward and one thing when you read them backward,” Bettany explained. “In our film the tattoos have prophecies. They do actually say things if you translate them, but only if you speak angel.”
Legion isn’t straight up horror fare, but fans can expect a lot of creepy goodness in the form of swarms of possessed people. Look for it in theatres on January 22, 2010.
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