Paul Bettany: We Read To The Boys Every Night

Paul Bettany is set to play the controversial scientist Charles Darwin in the period film Creation alongside his lovely wife, Jennifer Connelly. The 38-year-old English actor opened up to Parade about his new film, the joys of raising sons Stellan, 6, and stepson Kai, 12, and his worries about the environment.

On reading to the boys every night: "Actually, reading to both my kids has always been important. My wife, Jennifer, and I read to them every night. It's the most delicious time of the day when your child is all sleepy and cuddly and they get to snuggle up and you read them a bedtime story. It's the bit of parenting that makes up for when they're screaming and shouting at you."

On how his father read him bedtime stories: "My dad made a lot of stories up at bedtime. He would create these wild stories about this elephant. As I got older, I remember him reading Lord of the Rings. My strongest memory was the moment when you think Frodo is dead and I forced him to read about 250 more pages until you realized he was okay."

On his worries about the environment: "I think about the apocalypse all the time in terms of the environment and in terms of the wars we're waging. I think about it a lot, and it's frightening what life is going to be like in 2055 for my children if we don't cut down on our fossil fuels. I think it's an ongoing fear and fantasy for people, so I don't think it's ever gone away. And maybe that's why we're suddenly seeing so many post-apocalyptic movies."

On Charles Darwin: "I couldn't believe the amount of violence that you can find on the Internet directed at a man who's been dead for a very long time. There's vicious diatribes full of hatred for Darwin. Actually, he was, by all accounts, one of the sweetest human beings you can possibly imagine. But there are still a lot of people who just can't accept his thinking without getting irrational. He was an atheist and so am I, but I don't think that makes me immoral."