Is Paul Bettany's career failure a result of his "unique" looks?

Do you think so. He's actually quite good at acting. I think the main reason why he hasn't gotten great parts is because of his looks. He is very good-looking in a very unique way, but many people looking at him would probably find him homely looking.

• Career failure? OP = Paul Bettany's mom

• Honey, if Steve Buscemi can find steady work Bettany's looks are no excuse.

• I love Paul Bettany and I think he's brilliant. I wish he'd work more. I have two projects in mind for him right now that he'd be perfect for.

• Does he maybe do a lot of theater work in London? I always thought he was really attractive (straight female, sorry).

• He curses a lot in real life.

• I don't think it's looks so much as lack of sex appeal. Michael Caine is/was not a handsome guy. Even as a young man he was pale, freckly with puffy eyelids. Despite that he was quite attractive. Bettany is a good actor, but he doesn't have the "it" to be a leading man.

• It's a result of his gingerness.

• Wait - is PB a ginger (not TTAWWT) who lightens his hair? There many photos of him as a convincing looking blonde.

• He's a crypto-ginger (strawberry blond).

• [quote] Does he maybe do a lot of theater work in London? Not a wit. He's never acted on the London stage. He lives in Brooklyn with Jennifer Connelly - around the corner from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgaard. Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams used to live down the block.

  Beverly%20Hills%20of%20Brooklyn

• He has the look of a slightly tanned, boiled albino.

• R9, could a Paul Bettany produce viable offspring with Homo sapiens sapiens?

• It is possible, but such offspring would likely be sterile. Hybridization is discouraged.

• He is not a good actor at all. I don't know why you would say that. His movies have not done well, he chooses terrible projects in the first place, and he hasn't added anything to them. He's over-rated if anything-- ginger notwithstanding...

  Anon

• I find him really attractive and would do him in the blink of an eye. I also think he's a pretty good actor, so his non-stellar career is probably just the result of a combination of his own choices and dumb (bad) luck.

• Paul Bettany is homely looking?

  Lena%20Dunham

• Career failure?

• What's failed about his career? He seems to be constantly working, and doing interesting stuff. I should think a real actor would be happy with what he's doing. Tell me, has he ever even tried to become a major star?

• He turned down The King's Speech and makes shitty movies for the money instead. From IMDB: The role of King George VI was written with Paul Bettany in mind. Bettany declined to spend more time with his family, and later admitted that he regretted his decision. Colin Firth was cast instead and received an Oscar for his performance.

• Yeah, but there's no gurantee that he would have been good in TKS, and definitely no guarantee that he would have won the Oscar. Firth's win was partially a make-up for him not winning for "A Single Man".

• He would have been completely wrong in The King's Speech: physically he bears little resemblance to George VI, he would have been too young and just doesn't have the "gravitas" for such a role or the "magnetism" to capture an audience, especially when the role involves stuttering.