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Interview with Sunday Mirror Magazine
By Olivia Ethan
M Celebs, the Sunday Mirror Magazine
February 22, 2004
Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly, 33, gives us the goss on her hubby, actor Paul Bettany, being a mum again and why all her characters are so depressed.
You're married to Paul Bettany, one of the funniest actors in Britain. Does he make you laugh?
JC: Yeah he's funny, but he's a bastard at home. He keeps be chained to a stake. You don't know the worst of it. No, really, he's wonderful. He's a little bit dirty, but he's also shining. I'm indecisive about a lot of things and that drives people crazy. But I was never more certain about marrying him. It all happened really quickly.
Has having a baby with Paul changed the way you look at him?
JC: He's become that sexy guy carrying the baby in a sling, which is very sweet. It was clear to me when we were shooting A Beautiful Mind that he was a guy who wanted to be a dad. We were just friends then, and I remember one day, Paul and my son Kai were playing in my trailer, and when I came back from make-up, they both had had pillows attached to their heads and they were doing some turtle pirate game, jumping on the couches. He's fantastic with kids and he's so full of love.
How is Paul taking to looking after the baby?
JC: Well, I'm breast-feeding Stellan at the moment, and I caught Paul the other day with the breast pump on. I hear him go, 'Ouch', so I go into the room, and the thing is sucking his nipples. He said, 'I heard if something happens to the mother men can start to lactate.' So I'm starting to feel a bit fearful for my well-being.
What would you like Stellan to inherit from Paul?
JC: His penis! At the moment, Paul's kind of devastated, because when Stellan was born, he was the spitting image of him - he had no eyebrows, blonde hair and the exact same crooked nostrils. But as time has gone on, he's starting to go dark, and Paul is like, 'Your hair had better not turn a different colour...'
How has being a mother to Kai, six, and six-month-old Stellan changed you?
JC: I don't know if it's coincidental that my career has gotten to a better place since I've become a mother, but I have had opportunities to play more interesting women. Certainly becoming a mother has brought so much more joy into my life, and I've experienced a love I never fathomed before having kids. It changes the way you look at life. Before, I was somone who studied every religion, every philosophy and practised yoga, and this and that, then suddenly here's this thing I know is sacred.
Do you believe in fate?
JC: I don't know. There are a lot of reasons why that's hard for me to accept. Things have come together at the same time both professionally and personally. Right now, I'm committed in my relationship and I know where my place is. I have my family, I know where I'm going. Everything has started to become much clearer for me.
You and Paul both starred in A Beautiful Mind, but had no scenes together. Do you have plans to work together?
JC: I'd love to do a movie with Paul. It will be interesting to see if we have chemistry together on screen. I've noticed, because we're married, some people say, 'Oh, we don't want them in a movie, there'll be no mystery', so I think we'd have to be careful about what we choose to do. I can't imagine we'll get too many offers, which is a shame, because think of all the free rehersal time we'd get.
Did you like Paul in Master and Commander?
JC: I don't normally watch action movies and I've seen it twice now. I liked it even better the second time I saw it, which I think is the mark of a really good movie. It's remarkable how Paul can manage to be sexy in a pair of tights. He used to joke we've both played Russell Crowe's wife.
In your new film, House of Sand and Fog, you play a lonely, abandoned woman who loses her home. Is your home important to you?
JC: I've always wanted to feel like I had a real home. I lived in the same small New York apartment for 10 years, and when my lease ran out every year, I'd be bitching about moving, but never got around to doing it. I'd look around and not find anything or everwhere would be too expensive. It always felt less important to me because I travel so much, and I sort of stayed. But now, we've moved into our lovely house in New York, it's exciting.
You have a penchant for playing depressed characters - can you relate to them?
JC: I was very much more of a moody teenager. I loved to mope around, but I don't do it so much anymore.
Did Paul lighten up the seriousness of the film for you?
JC: He just loved to make fun of me for taking myself too seriously. And because my son Kai wanted to play with me in my trailer, I didn't have an option of bringing my work home with me. When I was about to shoot the scene where I am suicidal, Paul was in my trailer with his guitar, singing songs like, 'Oh, my name is Jennifer and I take myself very seriously.' I'm like, 'Shut up, I have to do this scene!' He would literally sing that the second I was walking out of my trailer to go on set.
Did you enjoy working with Sir Ben Kingsley in House of Sand and Fog?
JC: He was fantastic. He's dignified, polite and respectful to everyone and very giving as an actor. He doesn't come with a lot of fanfare and doesn't make a lot of noise about what he's doing. He does his job, then you see it all put together on the screen and it's just extraordinary.
Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with?
JC: That's easy - my husband and sons. At least I'd be amused until we were rescued.
Would you ever consider having plastic surgery?
JC: I don't have a problem with it, but I'd like to age gracefully. That's one of the most beautiful aspects of growing old.
Is your son Stellan named after anyone?
JC: Yes, after Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting, Dogville), one of Paul's good friends.
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