The actor was in his late 20s when he stepped into the role of Geoffrey Chaucer
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NEED TO KNOW
- Paul Bettany says cab drivers in New York often recognize him for his nude scene in A Knight’s Tale
- Bettany starred alongside Heath Ledger in the 2001 film and shared a close friendship with the late actor
- He hasn’t rewatched A Knight’s Tale in over 20 years, saying it reminds him too much of losing Ledger
Audiences were first introduced to Paul Bettany when he stepped into Geoffrey Chaucer’s shoes in 2001’s A Knight’s Tale — and they saw a lot of him.
While catching up with PEOPLE at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026 on Aug. 14, the 55-year-old actor shares that while some people quote iconic lines from his filmography, there’s one scene in particular he’s recognized for the most.
“Well, there is a line from WandaVision, which is, ‘What is grief, if not love persevering?’ But mostly, I live in New York City, and I was in a film called A Knight’s Tale, right at the beginning of my career, where I walked down the street naked, and so, I’ll get cab drivers to this day winding down their window and going, ‘You’re the naked guy!’” he tells PEOPLE. “They have me at a disadvantage.”
Bettany starred in 2001’s A Knight’s Tale alongside the late Heath Ledger. The Brian Helgeland-directed film also starred Shannyn Sossamon, Rufus Sewell and Alan Tudyk. The action-comedy centered around the peasant William Thatcher, played by Ledger, as he tries to impress a woman in his village and become a jousting knight with the help of his friends, including Bettany’s character, a fictionalized version of the author Chaucer.
In the movie, the two actors first cross paths when Ledger’s character stumbles upon Bettany, who is fully naked, strolling through the streets after losing his clothes and money from gambling.
Bettany remained close with Ledger before the actor died in 2008 at the age of 28 from an accidental overdose.
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In a talk during L.A. Comic Con in 2025, Bettany shared that he hasn’t seen A Knight’s Tale since it came out over 20 years ago and refuses to watch it again, saying that it “was a really long time ago.”
“It was like another lifetime ago,” he shared. “And people do come up sometimes, people come up to me on the street and quote things at me, and I literally can’t remember. I can’t remember any of it.”
“I saw [the film] when it first came out. I’ve never seen it again since. There are lots of reasons for that, and just one of them is that I miss Heath too much,” he added.
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