Paul Bettany Dishes on Raising His Sons and His New Movie Role

January 21, 2010 by tiffanyb
Filed under: Celebrity Baby News

Actor Paul Bettany, who is set to star as Charles Darwin in Creation, talks about his life with wife Jennifer Connelly and his son Stellan, 6, and stepson, Kai, 12.

Paul says that him and Jennifer have daily routines with their kids, which includes reading to them every night. He tells Parade magazine, “Actually, reading to both my kids has always been important. My wife, Jennifer, and I read to them every night. It’s the most delicious time of the day when your child is all sleepy and cuddly and they get to snuggle up and you read them a bedtime story. It’s the bit of parenting that makes up for when they’re screaming and shouting at you.”

The actor says that reading bedtime stories actually came from his dad. “My dad made a lot of stories up at bedtime,” says Paul. ”He would create these wild stories about this elephant. As I got older, I remember him reading Lord of the Rings. My strongest memory was the moment when you think Frodo is dead and I forced him to read about 250 more pages until you realized he was okay.”

One of the biggest worries that Paul has for his children is the environment. He explains, “I think about the apocalypse all the time in terms of the environment and in terms of the wars we’re waging. I think about it a lot, and it’s frightening what life is going to be like in 2055 for my children if we don’t cut down on our fossil fuels. I think it’s an ongoing fear and fantasy for people, so I don’t think it’s ever gone away. And maybe that’s why we’re suddenly seeing so many post-apocalyptic movies.”

Paul will star as Charles Darwin in a new movie and says that after doing research he can’t believe “the amount of violence that you can find on the Internet directed at a man who’s been dead for a very long time. There’s vicious diatribes full of hatred for Darwin. Actually, he was, by all accounts, one of the sweetest human beings you can possibly imagine.” He adds, “He was an atheist and so am I, but I don’t think that makes me immoral.”