• June 30, 2003
• Vol. 59
• No. 25

Super Leap

Jennifer Connelly Goes from Oscar to the Hulk, with a Baby on the Way

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From PEOPLE Magazine

Queasy pallor, supersize girth, wildly uncontrollable mood swings: Yes, pregnant women have an awful lot in common with a certain Don't-make-me-angry! comic book character. Jennifer Connelly, expecting a boy in August and now onscreen in The Hulk, is not one of those women. "I've been feeling really good," she says, noting that until recently she has worn "the same jeans as when I wasn't pregnant."

As if she didn't inspire enough green-eyed envy already. A Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner for '01's A Beautiful Mind, Connelly, 32, is finally poised to hit popcorn-flick superstardom with The Hulk. But it's marriage and mommyhood that have her attention these days. The New York City native and former child star ('84's Once Upon a Time in America) has settled into her tiny Manhattan pad with British actor Paul Bettany, 32, whom she met on Mind and wed on New Year's Day. Marriage "is a whole new thing for me," says Connelly, who has a 6-year-old son, Kai, with ex-beau David Dugan. "Paul loves to make fun of me for being American. He's funny as hell."

Connelly can be too, though she's intense on the set. "She's a very serious New York actress," says Hulk director Ang Lee. "It took some convincing to make her believe she should be in a comic-book movie." In London with Bettany for the summer, Connelly says her next goal is to move into a place "with a nicer kitchen. I'm looking forward to learning how to cook!"