Paul Bettany is the kind of bloke you wish you were friends with. Witty, bright, opinionated - the 35-year old is the perfect pub companion. Not only that, but you know that he would help you chat up the most beautiful girls in the pub.

Not for himself, you understand - he is blissfully married to Jennifer Connelly, whom he met on the set of A Beautiful Mind. But he would be a great wingman - he is more than charismatic enough for two.

Nevertheless, he admits that he "loves" playing househusband and today, chatting about his new movie The Da Vinci Code in a posh house overlooking Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, he's uber-excited because he is about to go home and see his son, Stellan.

Normally, he and Connelly take it in turns to work, this is the first time both of them have been away.

"We haven't ever been away from Stellan very much," he admits. "So I was a bit anxious out here. But I'm going home and I'm going to take my boy out to see my wife." A huge smile spreads across his face.

He hasn't been home in a while because he has been busy working on one of the most anticipated films of the year. Adapted from the multi-million-selling novel by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code stars Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou as Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, on a mission to uncover the secret of The Holy Grail. Paul plays Silas, the sinister albino monk assassin trying to kill them and keep the mystery, well, a mystery.

Much has been made of the Catholic church's dissatisfaction with their portrayal in the book and there's been plenty of controversy, but unsurprisingly for the London native, it's all a storm in a teacup.

"I was blissfully naive about it," he says. "I mean, I've heard a few people half-express concern about it, but I can't believe that it's actually going to come to anything. When you buy this book in a bookstore, you go to the fiction department. It's not a reference book, I didn't buy it in Personal Growth And Philosophy. I think it's really clear to anyone who reads it that it's a story."

Unfortunately for the actor, it's a story that involved him spending most of his time in an uncomfortable monk's habit, whipping himself ("a little painful") while wearing a wig. "Under the wig, I had shaved hair," he admits. "My wife was a little bit scared! Stellan came with me, watched me getting my hair dyed, put my contact lenses in. He didn't like me when I wore the robe, he just didn't want me to put the robe on. I think he was offended by the brown."

Bad wardrobe or otherwise, having already shared the screen this year with Harrison Ford in Firewall, The Da Vinci Code should cement Paul as one of the most successful British actors working today. The rakish star (he's six foot four) was born into a theatre family in Harlesden, son to a pair of thesps. Dad Thane continues to perform. After a number of small roles, he made a splash as a violent but intelligent thug in Gangster No.1, before heading to Hollywood as Geoffrey Chaucer in romp A Knight's Tale. The film flopped, but Paul came out of it with glowing reviews. He became friends with Russell Crowe on A Beautiful Mind and then again on Master And Commander, while turning down big-budgets parts in Red Dragon to work with Lars Von Trier in Dogville.

Beloved by actors and critics, he has so far managed to evade superstardom. That should all change after playing Silas and there were even recent rumours swirling on the internet of him playing the Joker in the next Batman movie.

"I've only heard about it through journalists," he says. "And it puts me in a tricky negotiating position! I think director Christopher Nolan made a really good movie, but I've heard nothing about it."

Modesty looks good on Paul Bettany. When reminded of an interview carried out on the set of one of his still-unreleased early movies, he is genuinely dumbfounded. "Wow, time moves doesn't it?" he gasps.

He continues: "I'm always convinced that it's all going to stop and get taken away. Dreams aren't planned, you know what I mean? You can sort of want something, but I'm always completely in shock that I've got anywhere."

Really? "Yes, because I know really great actors that haven't. Why everything went well for me and not for them does not make a lot of sense to me. I mean, I'd love for it not to be, but so much of it is to do with luck."

It's also, apparently (and correctly) a lot to do with Hollywood stupidity. "Some people talk a good fight," he says. "You might go into an audition room and everybody thinks you're incredibly charming and gives you the job." He sighs and you feel that he might throw out a few names. Perhaps he would have in the early days, but now professionalism takes hold. "There are a few people like that, as we both know, working," he laughs.

Thankfully, sailing by on charm alone is not what Paul Bettany is about.

And with a firm handshake and cheerful goodbye, he is off to pick up his son. Jennifer, after all, is waiting.

Ben Falk