Paul Bettany Has Harsh Words For Jason Statham

Here’s a movie star beef we didn’t see coming.

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ star Paul Bettany has proven he’s got bigger balls than we have during an appearance on ’Conan’ by taking a swipe at action star Jason Statham.

The Vision actor told the chat show host: “[Statham] should think about investing in an acting double.” Watch the video below.

Bettany’s dig came after Conan O’Brien brought up comments made by the ‘Transporter’ star earlier in the year that questioned the authenticity of stunts in Marvel films.

“I could take my grandma, put her in a cape, and then put her on a green-screen and they’ll have stunt doubles come in and do all the action,” Statham told Italian website i400Calci while promoting ‘Spy’.

“Anybody can do it. They’re relying on stunt doubles, and green screen, and $200 million budgets, it’s all CGI created. To me, it’s not authentic.“

Bettany initially praised Statham saying, “He’s brilliant at what he does, I couldn’t do it.” He then went on to hail the work of movie stunt doubles before suggesting the ‘Lock Stock’ star would perhaps need an “acting double” for his dramatic scenes.

“I would never talk s*** about somebody else’s work,” Bettany added, “I’m just saying, I read the contract, they [Marvel] employed me as an actor. There’s obviously stunt men of the world, they’re very good at what they do, so let them do it.”

Above: Bettany in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’.

“If there’s a really, really tricky scene with some very tricky dialogue, one might consider bringing in an acting double for Jason Statham.”

So that’s round 2 to Paul Bettany in this unexpected celeb battle. Can’t wait to see if The Stath rises to the bait.

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is out on DVD and Blu-ray this week.

Image credits: YouTube/TBS