Starring alongside Saleh Bakri, Imogene Poots and Stanley Townsend, Paul recently completed a shoot on The Teacher, directed by Farah Nabulsi, whose short The Present (Netflix) won the BAFTA in 2021 and was Oscar-nominated the same year. Paul also filmed Wool in the UK in 2022, where he plays Kilroy.
Paul’s recent appearances as an actor were as Daniel Borgoraz in the award-winning The Honourable Woman and Zava Zand in Black Earth Rising, both for for BBC / Netflix and as Pattison QC in Eastenders. He was at the RSC for Taming Of The Shrew (Vincentio) and the National for The Doctor’s Dilemma (Schutzmacher). He played Shimon Peres in the stage hit Oslo, which transferred from the National to the Pinter Theatre.
His screenplay for Ecosse Films, Anna’s Story, recently won a place on the prestigious Brit List in 2018. His specially commissioned monologue for the Covid period for Elysium Theatre Company, The Moth, has received rave reviews and was selected for 24 international film festivals.
In between acting and writing jobs, Paul is a regular Voice Over Artiste. This has included many awards and major ads for the UK, Europe and America, countless documentaries for the National Geographic Channel and BBC and a host of video games.
Paul was born in South Africa. While at the University Of Cape Town Drama School he cut his teeth as an actor at South Africa’s first multi-racial theatre, The Space, where many of Athol Fugard’s plays were pioneered.
He left for the UK in 1976 following conscription into the Angolan border war — a time he’s drawn on for his award-winning play The Dead Wait and two other works, The Song Of My Father for BBC Radio 4 and Sweet Like Suga (Centaur Theatre Montreal). The Dead Wait was developed by Moonstone International and The Film Council for the screen. It is currently under option to FilmAfrika.
Paul completed a post-graduate diploma at LAMDA and began working as an actor in the UK in 1978.
While much of his professional life is devoted to acting Paul returns frequently to writing and tries to maintain a balance between both disciplines, often performing in his own work. His work as a writer began on BBC Radio. It encompasses theatre, television and film with several nominations and awards including the Nashville International best feature Award for Almost Heaven in which he played the role of Blagden.
Theatre acting highlights include Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Mermaid; Gerry Evans in the world premiere’ of Dancing At Lughnasa at the Abbey; Gratiano in The Merchant Of Venice at Chichester with Alec Guinness as Shylock (Paul recently played Shylock at the Arcola Theatre); Vorster in Anthony Sher’s I.D. at the Almeida; Papa Louw in his play, The Dead Wait, at the Royal Exchange and Park Theatres.
On film & TV favourite productions include The Teacher, The Honourable Woman, Black Earth Rising, Cry Freedom, The Life And Loves Of A She Devil and Smiley’s People.
The Dead Wait (stage) in which Paul played the psychotic platoon Commander Papa Louw at the Royal Exchange and on BBC Radio 4, was shortlisted for The Verity Bargate Award, and nominated for 3 Manchester Evening News Awards: best play, production and actor — in which category it won.
Paul was nominated as best actor in the film Room 36 at the New York Horror Film Festival, a piece of news he was not entirely sure how to take…