The Luxury Travel Bible - OPEN PASSPORT: Paul Bettany

OPEN PASSPORT: Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany's latest film Priest sees the Hollywood star as a man of the cloth who tracks down vampires who have kidnapped his niece on an alternative Earth. Back on this planet Bettany tells Open passport that low profile haunts in New York and LA are more his scene but reveals that he still misses the good old British pub.

"We don't do much of the party and celeb stuff," says Paul Bettany but being happily married to Hollywood actress Jennifer Connolly with son, Stellan and stepson, Kai, you can understand why. For the last few years the family hav been living in New York but Paul freely admits to suffering from homesickness. In his own words, "it took me three years to realise: 'F***! I'm not going home!"

Paul Bettany

However, now he's finally taken a big ol' bite of the Big Apple, made himself some American mates and settled quite happily into the city that never sleeps.

Since Mr. Bettany doesn't do much partying, there's all the more reason to sit up and take notice when he does step out for a night on the tiles with his lovely wife on his arm. In New York, he's been known to dine out at the popular Waverley Inn, located on Bank Street in the achingly hip West Village - a favourite haunt of many an A-Lister.

Of course, appearing opposite Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in The Tourist as well as Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code, his big screen work means he spends a good deal of his time in Hollywood or Los Angeles. So where does he head when he's in the City of Angels?

Well, Paul has been snapped dining at low-key Italian restaurant Il Sole. Looking at it, you wouldn't think it a superstar hangout in the slightest, tucked away discreetly amongst the curiously and incongruously showy and shoddy tourist traps that line Sunset Boulevard. But that is precisely its appeal. Dark, cosy and some might say, dingy inside, it's the sort of off-duty venue where Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise - or Paul Bettany - might head for a low-profile meal with their family.

So what does he miss about England? ...most of all, Paul misses the "British pubs very much."

One of Paul's recent films, Creation (about the life of Charles Darwin) brought him back to England, where the opportunity to shoot on varied locations around the UK including Cornwall and his native London; intensified his longing for all things British.

So what does he miss about England? Well, his mates for one thing. " I've got some American mates now but I keep in touch with all my mates back in London and they come out and see me over here, too, which is great. It's nice to see some familiar faces," he smiles. But most of all, Paul misses the "British pubs very much."

It's good to know that despite the superstar status and the admission that he and his wife "could go out every day of the week if we wanted", it's the humble British pub that holds a place in Paul's affections. You can take the Londoner out of London...

Bettany'S CHOICE
London: www.visitlondon.com New York: www.nycgo.com Cornwall: www.visitcornwall.com

Posted 17/1/11

Paul Bettany talked to Kim Francis. This article appeared on WhereAndNow.com a London-centric magazine that provides inspiration on where to eat, sleep, drink, travel as well as upcoming events in the English capital.