NEW YORK — Paul Bettany has long been an admirer of art superstar Andy Warhol, from a distance, like an art lover wandering a favorite gallery. But when he was initially offered a chance to get much closer and play his hero on stage, he declined.
“I don’t know how you get underneath the wig and the glasses and the carefully curated public persona. I don’t know how to do it,” Bettany recalled thinking. “I think there might be a reason that Andy is always a cameo in films.”
Persistence on the part of a producer and reading Warhol’s diaries convinced Bettany that he might at least try.