Acting
Dec 18, 1963
Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Paul Rhys
Acting
Biography
Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh actor with an extensive career in theatre, radio, television and film. Rhys was born in Neath to working-class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. He is of part-Irish descent on his mother's side. From the age of ten, he bred and trained horses, becoming a highly accomplished rider. A committed punk during his youth, Rhys sang in several bands. His first acting job was playing Liverpudlian judo expert Ralph in John Godber's hit play Bouncers, before leaving for London, where he qualified for his Equity card by singing jazz standards at lunchtime for Peter Boizot's Pizza Express and Kettners. Rhys received a Bernard Shaw Scholarship to study at RADA. In the first term he was spotted by Philip Prowse and was invited to perform in Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, playing the illegitimate son, Gerald. He also appeared as Dean Swift in Julien Temple's film Absolute Beginners. Rhys completed his education at RADA by winning the William Pole prize and the Bancroft Gold Medal. His next film role was in Franklin J. Schaffner's Lionheart. After a brief spell at the Royal Shakespeare Company he played opposite Colin Firth in Richard Eyre's award-winning film Tumbledown. Soon after this, he appeared in Vincent & Theo, directed by American film director Robert Altman, as Vincent van Gogh's younger brother Theo van Gogh. Continuing the theme of famous brothers, Paul then played Sydney Chaplin opposite Robert Downey Jr.'s Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's Chaplin. He went on to play Massis in Alan Bennett's 102 Boulevard Haussmann. He then appeared opposite Peter O'Toole in Rebecca's Daughters. A series of films then followed including From Hell, Food of Love, Love Lies Bleeding, Becoming Colette and Hellraiser: Deader. He appears as Talleyrand in Ridley Scott's 2023 epic Napoleon, and as Duncan in Emerald Fennell's Saltburn. Running parallel to Rhys's film work has been a diverse and notable television career, working in leading roles with directors such as Mike Hodges, Stephen Frears, Sir Richard Eyre, Philip Martin, Christopher Morahan, Tom Vaughan, Edward Hall, Harry Bradbeer in productions including Tumbledown, A Dance to the Music of Time, The Heroes, Ghosts, Gallowglass, The Healer, Anna Karenina, The Deal, Beethoven, The Ten Commandments, Borgia, Luther and Spooks. In 2008 Rhys appeared in the series Agatha Christie's Poirot. In 2014, he played the lead as traitor Aldrich Ames, in The Assets miniseries, then as King George III in Turn: Washington's Spies and as Sir John Conroy in Victoria. He has made a minor industry out of playing vampires: Being Human (as Ivan); as Vlad, the Prince of Wallachia aka Dracula in seasons 1–3 of the 2015 series Da Vinci's Demons; and as Andrew Hubbard in two seasons of the 2020–2021 hit, A Discovery of Witches. In 2023, he appears as Tommy in the BBC film, Men Up.
Feature Films (34)
Frederick Abberline is an opium-huffing inspector from Scotland Yard who falls for one of Jack the Ripper's prostitute targets in this Hughes brothers adaption of a graphic novel that posits the Ripper's true identity.
From Hell
Young aspiring pianist attracts attention of famous musicians. Chance encounters bring them together but expectations must be managed by all.
Food of Love
After her husband's death, Madame Clicquot flouts convention by assuming the reins of their wine business, defying her critics and ultimately revolutionizing the champagne industry, establishing her as one of the world's first great businesswomen.
Widow Clicquot
When a tough-as-nails reporter is lead to a mysterious cult and the evil Pinhead, any moment could be her last.
Hellraiser: Deader
Based on a true story, The Heroes follows one of the most extraordinary and heroic exploits of World War II. After months of rigorous training in the north of Australia, a team of 14 men, most barely out of their teens, set sail from Cairns on board a leaky old fishing boat called 'The Krait'. Their mission, code-named Operation Jaywick, became a tense voyage through thousands of kilometres of Japanese held territory to launch a daring attack on Singapore Harbour. The raid is a success but within sight of safety they encounter a Japanese destroyer, and all prepare to die rather than be taken prisoner.
The Heroes
Television & Series (41)
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
Luther
A modern day version of the 1969 detective series about Private Investigator Jeff Randall, who is aided in cases by the ghost of his deceased partner Marty Hopkirk.
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Bonekickers was a BBC drama about a team of archaeologists, set at the fictional Wessex University. It made its début on 8 July 2008 and ran for one series. It was written by Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah. It was produced by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer of Mammoth Screen Ltd and co-produced with Monastic Productions. Archaeologist and Bristol University academic Mark Horton acted as the series' archaeological consultant. Adrian Lester has described the programme as "CSI meets Indiana Jones [...] There's an element of the crime procedural show, there's science, conspiracy theories – and there's a big underlying mystery that goes through the whole six-episode series." Much of the series was filmed in the City of Bath, Somerset, with locations including the University of Bath campus. Additional locations included Brean Down Fort and Kings Weston House, Chavenage House for episodes 5 & 6 and Sheldon Manor. On 21 November 2008 Broadcast magazine revealed the show would not be returning for a second series.
Bonekickers
A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.
