by Paul Fischer

Paul Bettany may have been nursing a bad flu, but that didn't stop the Brit from adopting the old stiff upper lip attitude, as we chatted in his Los Angeles hotel room about his starring role in Wimbledon. Bettany plays a former tennis pro on the verge of retirement, when his game suddenly improves as he begins to fall in love with an American star-on-the-rise (Kirsten Dunst). Not necessarily known for romantic comedies, and knowing how tough they are to make work, Bettany says that he has a philosophical attitude when it comes to choosing the right project, and this one was no exception. "I read the script and at the end of reading it there's either a lot of empty cups of coffee or not. I flew through this script and at the end I went "Shakoom" and that's basically it", Bettany says. "The movement of the script seemed to really work. It was good writing and the comedy didn't seem to comprise of cheap gags, but was borne out of the situation. I also really enjoyed the director [Richard Loncraine] when I went to meet him."

A romantic comedy that is part Hollywood but British in tone, Bettany says that he is not quite sure why the Brits excel in making this type of romantic comedy work. "I think there's a sort of mocking self-deprecating wit in England. If somebody's in trouble, you mock them, and then give them a hug later. Watching that seems to be really enjoyed by Americans, which is quite odd to me, because it's not their sense of humor at all." One of the more unique elements of this film is its tennis setting, and there are many moments of fiery tennis matches that play out on screen. Bettany agrees that you don't need to be a fan of the game to appreciate the film. "The thing about it was the director hired three actors: Austin Nichols, Kirsten Dunst and I who knew nothing about tennis. I'd never played tennis before and knew absolutely nothing about it. The theory was, that if we endeavored to make it understandable, it would be understandable by anybody who likes tennis or doesn't."

Bettany says that there was one thing that surprised him about tennis when preparing for this film."I'd done four months of lifting weights and playing tennis every day, trying to get myself in shape. I was feeling quite good about myself and then I went to see Andy Roddick play and suddenly realized that what I'd done was enormously arrogant, to think that you could pull it off. They were so beautiful, these men and women, who've been doing it since they were four. You finally realize what you've actually done is tantamount to saying that "I'd love to play Rudolf Nurayev, so how long do I have to learn ballet?" They're very good at what they do; hit the ball so hard, and move so elegantly on court."

Wimbledon explores the nature of celebrity, with scenes of Bettany's famous champ running from the press. Bettany says that his own life -- he's being married to actress Jennifer Connelly -- is fast becoming about celebrity. "How celebrity works out; it usually coincides with either myself or my wife doing publicity for a movie, but can then get a bit tricky with paparazzi and stuff like that. Most of the time we lead kind of quiet lives." Both actors live on either side of the Atlantic, split ting their home between London and New York.