Paul Bettany was born into a theatre family. His father, Thane, is still an actor. His mother has retired from acting. Bettany dropped out of school at age 16 and spent the next two years as a street performer in and around London. After a year working at a home for the elderly, he decided to enroll in drama school and following graduation quickly gained employment. Paul started his professional acting career onstage in plays like An Inspector Calls, One More Wasted Year and Love and Understanding. In addition to appearing in over a dozen theatrical productions in four years, Bettany was also seen on the small screen in the British series "Sharpe's Waterloo" (1997) and as Steerforth in "David Copperfield" (TNT, 2000). He landed his first role in British television in 1997 with the telefilm, Sharpe's Waterloo. That same year he made his feature film debut in the film Bent playing Captain. American moviegoers got their first eyeful of Paul Bettany as the frequently naked Geoffrey Chaucer in the cheeky "A Knight's Tale" (2001). Alternating between film and television work with such efforts as "The Land Girls" (1997) and "Coming Home" (1998) in the following years, Bettany continued to climb the credits until his breakthrough performance in 2000's "Gangster No. 1". Though Bettany would return to the role of supporting player for "Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)" (2000), that same year's depraved black comedy "Dead Babies" adapted from Martin Amis' novel once again found him taking the lead. His subsequent role as mathematician John Nash's (Russell Crowe) best friend in "A Beautiful Mind" proved a good reminder of Bettany's convincing dramatic range. That same year Bettany appearred opposite Willem Dafoein "The Reckoning", and a supporting performance in director Lars von Trier's 2003 thriller "Dogville" kept audiences hungering for more. Later re-teaming with "A Beautiful Mind" co-star Crowe for director Peter Weir's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World", Bettany would next make his first foray into romantic comedy territory opposite Kirsten Dunstin "Wimbledon". While filming A Beautiful Mind, Bettany met and fell in love with co-star Jennifer Connelly and the two were married in January 2003.