A Knight's Tale hunk Paul Bettany, 55, says his nude scene is STILL what he's most recognized for 25 years later

It's been 25 years, but Paul Bettany says he is still recognized for his nude scene in the movie A Knight's Tale.

The 55-year-old British actor starred alongside the late Heath Ledger in the 2001 adventure/action movie, directed by Brian Helgeland.

Bettany played Geoffrey Chaucer, and appeared naked in one showstopping scene that fans still remember.

'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 told People at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026 on August 14.

'They have me at a disadvantage,' he added.

The movie also starred Shannyn Sossamon, Rufus Sewell and Alan Tudyk.

Bettany admitted that he has not rewatched the movie since it premiered in 2001.

'It was like another lifetime ago,' he said at LA Comic Con in 2025, per Entertainment Weekly. '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.'

Mentioning Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose in 2008, he added, '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.'

Bettany confessed last year that he thought his 'career was over' before landing the role of Vision in 2008's Iron Man alongside Robert Downey Jr.

He went on to voice and appear as the supercomputer in another seven films, as well as spin-off series WandaVision and the upcoming VisionQuest, hitting theaters in October.

Just before landing the now iconic part, Bettany, who had previously starred in Oscar winning A Beautiful Mind and smash hit The Da Vinci Code, was told he would 'never work again' by a Hollywood producer.

During a December 2025 appearance on BBC Radio 2, he told host Gary Davies: '[My career] was on the up, and I had turned down a movie of [the producer's] and my son had just been born, and I think it just really stuck in his craw.'

Bettany branded the unnamed producer an 'apex predator' and told him to 'mind his manners' before walking away with his legs shaking, fearful the man was right. 

'I sat down, I think I was on Sunset [Boulevard], and my phone rang and it was [Avengers director] Joss Whedon and he said 'Do you want to play Vision?' And I said yes,' he shared.

While he never returned to confront the producer, Bettany said he cursed at the building following his good news. 

Vision was killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the Russo Brothers' 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War so he could retrieve the Mind Stone for his Infinity Gauntlet, which enabled him to snap his fingers and disintegrate half of all life across the universe.

The character returned twice – as 'Ghost' Vision and 'White' Vision – for  WandaVision, which aired in 2021 on Disney+ and 2026's VisionQuest. 

The actor shares son Stellan, 23, and daughter Agnes, 15, with actress wife Jennifer Connelly, 55, as well as stepson Kai, 29.