14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, during the press tour for the action comedy “Spy,” Jason Statham ripped into current mainstream action movies, particularly the Marvel releases, for relying on a huge budget, a green screen, stunt doubles and plenty of CGI to render (unconvincing) action scenes. Paul Bettany, who appears as Jarvis / Vision in the MCU, is very unhappy about Statham’s comments.
After his recent appearance on Conan, we might have a new Hollywood feud on our hands. Bettany first tried to play it cool about Statham’s comments, by praising him for his ability to do action scenes without a stunt double, but he worked himself up and ended up by suggesting he should get an acting double.
“I would never talk [expletive] about somebody else’s work,” he added. “I’m just saying, I read the contract, they [Marvel] employed me as an actor. There’s obviously stunt men of the world, they’re very good at what they do, so let them do it.”
Bettany’s argument was that he did the job that Marvel hired him to do, which was to act, and that he wouldn’t be able to do the stunt work for the movies even if he wanted to, because producers wouldn’t let him.
On the other hand, he added, if Statham were ever to do a dramatic scene, he wouldn’t be able to deliver because he’s not really an actor. Bettany said this smiling and joking that he would have to bring a stunt double to a fight with Statham, but you can tell he was serious.
Statham’s original comments are in the video below, starting with the 3-minute mark.
