Paul Bettany told he wouldn't make it as a action star!

Paul Bettany wanted to become an action hero so he could prove his friend wrong.

The 39-year-old British actor says he may never of signed up for action thrillers like his upcoming 3D spectacular Priest had it not been for a jibe from a pal.

“A friend of mine once said, ‘You know Paul, you’re never going to be the action guy.’ Because of that, like a punk, I went down the gym to prove him wrong,” says the star who is currently expecting the arrival of his third child with star wife Jennifer Connelly.

“I love making small independent movies that are character driven and where people sit around and talk a lot but I also like flying around and stabbing vampires. I really want to continue making small movies and great big action movies because it thrills me.”

Paul has previously admitted he hates seeing bare-chested posters of himself.

“There are these posters up all over the place of me bare-chested,” he said. “It’s kind of peculiar because I take the kids into school and they’re like Dad it’s you.

“I’m like shut up shut up. It’s not the kind of thing you want everyone seeing on the school run.”