Paul Bettany Hasn't Watched A Knight's Tale Since Its Release For One Good Reason

Brian Helgeland's 2001 medieval action/comedy "A Knight's Tale" is glorious Hollywood hooey. The film takes its title from the very first story in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," but it's hardly an accurate adaptation. Indeed, "A Knight's Tale" is the casual, Gen-X, MTV version of Chaucer, starring a hot cast of young actors and employing anachronistic uses of popular music. (Although set in the 1300s, characters stomp and sing along to Queen's "We Will Rock You.") 

The story is also more MTV than medieval. Heath Ledger plays a devastatingly handsome young lad named Will Thatcher, who serves as a squire to a blow-hard jousting champion. When the latter dies, Will dons his armor and wins a tournament anonymously. He then proceeds to win more tournaments, though he cannot enter local contests as he is not a nobleman. So, instead, he masquerades as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein of Gelderland, forming a team of assistants and boosters along the way. He also falls in love with a noblewoman played by Shannyn Sossamon and comes into the company of Chaucer himself (Paul Bettany), who's not yet a celebrity. The conceit of "A Knight's Tale" is that Chaucer's story was inspired by Will. 

Bettany had previously starred in the notable queer WWII drama "Bent," but he was about to explode in fame thanks to his turn in "A Beautiful Mind" (which came out the same year as "A Knight's Tale"). He only ever watched the movie once when it came out and then pivoted back to working, not really bothering to revisit it. These days, however, he actively avoids it altogether. Appearing at the 2025 L.A. Comic Con (via Entertainment Weekly), Bettany admitted he can't watch the film anymore because he misses Ledger — who died a shocking death at the age of 28 in 2008 — too much.

Ledger had completed work on "The Dark Knight" just prior to his death, and he would go on to win a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the film's wild, punk-rock take on the Joker. Those who worked with Ledger prior to his death have only had kind things to say, noting that he was both deeply devoted to his craft and a friendly and decent human being. 

Bettany has worked so much since "A Knight's Tale" that he's claimed he doesn't remember much of the movie itself. He does, however, recall working with Ledger and how well they got along. In his own words:

"It was a really long time ago. [...] It was like another lifetime ago. 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 ['A Knight's Tale'] 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." 

And that's completely understandable. Fans can look back on old Ledger performances and lament that he was taken from us far too soon. Having been his friend, though, Bettany might struggle to get past his very personal sadness to appreciate his or Ledger's performances.

Bettany went on to star in a hit superhero film of his own in 2008, voicing Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) artificially intelligent computer J.A.R.V.I.S. in "Iron Man." That role parlayed itself into a recurring part as the android Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's a pity that Bettany and Ledger can't get together now and compare superhero notes; they'd likely have mutually amusing stories to share.