Paul Bettany Admits the Secret ‘WandaVision’ Cameo Was… Paul Bettany

After Paul Bettany dropped some hints to watch out for an exciting WandaVison cameo last month, the loyal audience of the hit Marvel show let their imaginations run wild with guesses as to who it could be. But in an interview with Good Morning America today, the WandaVision star owned up to what many fans had already suspected — that the “cameo” was actually just himself playing White Vision, who showed up in the latest episode last week.

“I didn’t realize this until yesterday, but I guess the internet is pretty upset with you,” GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos told Bettany. “You teased a cameo on the show, said it was an actor you’ve longed to work with forever, had extraordinary chemistry. Then we see the cameo, and it’s another version of your character. What’s going on there?”

“Yeah, yeah…” the actor began. “You know when you think something’s going to be funny and you say it, and then you actually panic about it, which is what I did because fans started guessing who it might be. And they were guessing people like Benedict Cumberbatch and Patrick Stewart, and I was thinking, ‘God, that’s a good idea,'” he said with a laugh. “And they’re going to be so disappointed when they find out it’s me!”

Michael Strahan, hopeful for that elusive cameo, chimed in, “But we’re not sure though, you could be trolling us right now. So is there an appearance by someone?”

It was then that Bettany decided to get crafty. “Well, you know I’d love to answer that question, but my uh, my service keeps —” he replied, pretending to be breaking up on the other end of the video call, much to the entertainment of the GMA hosts, who had a big laugh over Bettany’s bit. “That was good, that was clever!” Robin Roberts admitted. Bettany, the committed actor he is, kept going. “What, what?” he asked.

In an interview with Esquire last month, Bettany first teased the much-hyped cameo. “Truth is, of all of the characters we were trying to keep secret, a lot of them got out through leaks,” he said. “There is one character that has not been revealed. And it is very exciting. It is an actor I’ve longed to work with all of my life. We have some amazing scenes together and I think the chemistry between us is extraordinary and fireworks on set.”

Watch Bettany’s whole interview with GMA in the video above, and catch the next episode of WandaVision on Disney+ tomorrow, March 5 — who knows, maybe Benedict Cumberbatch really will show up as a series finale treat?

Stream WandaVision on Disney+