Studio Cut

Paul Bettany, perhaps best known for his powerful performance as the assassin Silas in “The Da Vinci Code,” is back in the big screen, this time as the Archangel Michael in Columbia Pictures’ supernatural action-thriller “Legion.”

In the film, as mankind destroys itself in a savage fury, a small group of people (led by Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson) trapped on the edge of nowhere prepare to make a last stand—with the help of a mysterious and powerful stranger – the Archangel Michael.

Convincing Bettany to play Michael seemed an audacious goal for the filmmakers. “Paul has the authority we needed, but given his pedigree, we weren’t sure he would be interested,” says writer-director Scott Stewart.

The catalyst for the action of the film is Michael, a larger-than-life figure who seems to appear out of nowhere. “Michael has such conviction that the other characters follow him without question,” says Stewart. “I didn’t want him to be an enigma. He is the Archangel Michael, but you can’t play that abstraction.”

Stewart had planned his presentation meticulously in an all-out effort to capture Bettany’s imagination. The actor was as intrigued by Stewart’s vision as he was by the film’s premise. “Scott pitched his movie better than anybody has ever pitched a movie to me before,” the actor says. “He had all kinds of visual aids. He’s a very impressive human being.”

The unusual thematic elements were icing on the cake for the actor. “It’s a really slick, fast-paced movie that is in no way stupid,” he says. “Traditionally Michael is the defender of mankind. He is known as the first in all heaven to bow down before mankind and he still has faith in humanity despite all the war and horror he sees. So he’s having a massive crisis of allegiance.”

Bettany’s unique qualities as an actor made him an ideal choice to play the conflicted archangel, says the director. “Paul has an incredible stillness that only the greatest actors possess. His work is almost surgical in its exactness and specificity. That helped make Michael a commanding, mysterious figure you immediately trust, even if you don’t fully understand why. He turned out to be the most tremendous partner a filmmaker could have, because he cared a lot about the film and about his character—but he also wanted to shoot a machine gun and have a good time.”

Though a veteran of numerous films, “Legion” provided Bettany his first essentially action hero role.  And he calls the stunts he did in the movie “an embarrassing amount of fun.” “The first time on the wire was a rush unlike anything legal that I know of,” Bettany says. “The fights were like being 10 years old with friends who don’t mind you hit them. If you’re making an action movie and you’re not doing the action, then you’re not making an action movie.”

Opening across the Philippines on Friday, Jan. 22, “Legion” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.  Visit www.sonypictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.