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"What is grief but love persevering?"

That beautiful turn of phrase is perhaps the most well known line from Marvel's WandaVision streaming series. Spoken as Paul Bettany as the Vision to his beloved Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). According to Bettany, it was no small task to nail down the exact wording of the climactic line, and the idea that finally sealed the deal came from a somewhat unlikely source.

"It's the opposite of improvised. I think that line was built by so many people," Bettany told podcast Happy Sad Confused. "And it kept being close, and I was like 'Gosh, it's just missing something.' And they kept going back, and it was [producer Jac Shaeffer]'s assistant, came in with the coffees, and she went 'Persevering.' And we all went, 'That's it'. And yeah, the line's had a life of its own."

Though Bettany's performance in the moment is undeniable, he credits both co-star Olsen as well as the filmmakers and crew who put together the finished scene, in particular the editors who crafted the moment's visual continuity, with its ultimate success.

"I have to say, you know, I never see actors thank editors, and, you know, they should. As somebody who has directed and edited a movie, let me assure you, actors absolutely should be thanking their editors when they accept awards. 'Thank you for cutting my shit bits out'," he laughed. "But one of the things that is amazing about that moment, is that it's not played on me. It's played on her. Look, it's a great line, but I think what makes it really moving is seeing it land with her." 

Fans have really responded to the line as well, with Bettany discussing the people who approach him to say how much it means to them, with some even going so far as permanently scribing it on their bodies.

"I do love that line though. When you go around the conventions or whatever, the real meaning that it had for people, I can't tell you the number of people that come up, I've seen people with tattoos of it," Bettany admitted. "And it's lovely thought, a very well wrought line, and very little to do with me. And I mean it. It's just a very well written line, and then the shot is on her. She's doing all the acting. So I get all the credit."

Vision returns in the upcoming VisionQuest streaming series that explores the dynamic between the android Avengers and his creator Ultron, the twisted AI created by Tony Stark who has a hatred of organic life. VisionQuest premieres on Disney+ on October 14.

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