Paul Rhys

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.

Known For: Acting

Born: Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, 1963-12-19

Died: null

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1986	Absolute Beginners	Dean Swift	55
2	1987	The Spirit		46
3	1987	Lionheart	Mayor of the Underground City	55
4	1988	The Heroes	Ivan Lyon	53
5	1988	Tumbledown	Hugh MacKessac	56
6	1990	102 Boulevard Haussmann	Amable Massis	60
7	1990	Vincent & Theo	Theodore 'Theo' Van Gogh	64
8	1991	Becoming Colette	Chapo	37
9	1992	Rebecca's Daughters	Anthony Raine	60
10	1992	Chaplin	Sydney Chaplin	74
11	1994	The Healer	Dr. John Lassiter	0
12	1995	Nina Takes a Lover	Photographer	57
13	1995	The Haunting of Helen Walker	Edward Goffe	43
14	1998	King Lear	Edgar	80
15	1999	The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka	Chopin	0
16	1999	Love Lies Bleeding	Jonathan	67
17	2001	The Innocent	David Pastorov	0
18	2001	From Hell	Dr. Ferral	67
19	2002	Food of Love	Richard Kennington	56
20	2003	Otherworld	Lord Pwyll (voice)	51
21	2003	The Deal	Peter Mandelson	67
22	2005	Murder in Rome	Cicero	70
23	2005	Hellraiser: Deader	Winter	46
24	2010	When Harvey Met Bob	Paul McCartney	66
25	2011	Eliminate: Archie Cookson	Archie Cookson	40
26	2015	Casanova	Comte De St Germain	82
27	2023	Saltburn	Duncan	70
28	2023	Napoleon	Talleyrand	63
29	2024	Widow Clicquot	Droite	67
30	2024	Men Up	Tommy Cadogan	77
31		Madfabulous		0
32		The Lives of Animals	John	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1982	Timewatch	Cicero	69
2	1987	My Family and Other Animals	George	50
3	1989	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Robin Upward	82
4	1990	Chillers	Adam Marshall	62
5	1990	Vincent & Theo	Theo Van Gogh	60
6	1991	Performance	Edgar	60
7	1991	Performance	Christopher	60
8	1993	Gallowglass	Sandor	68
9	1995	Kavanagh Q.C.	Sam Wicks	70
10	1995	The Last Machine		0
11	1997	A Dance to the Music of Time	Charles Stringham	53
12	2000	Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)		61
13	2000	Anna Karenina	Nikolai	70
14	2001	Murder in Mind	Matthew Hopkins	84
15	2001	The Cazalets	Rupert Cazalet	85
16	2002	Spooks	Alexis Meynell	77
17	2004	New Tricks	Sebastian Carter	74
18	2004	This World		60
19	2005	Beethoven	Ludwig van Beethoven	80
20	2006	The Ten Commandments	Ramses	54
21	2008	Murdoch Mysteries	Dr. Llewllyn Francis	77
22	2008	Bonekickers		56
23	2009	Being Human	Ivan	70
24	2009	Moving On	Andy	71
25	2009	The Queen		70
26	2010	Luther	Lucien Burgess	79
27	2011	Borgia		73
28	2011	Great Expectations	Compeyson	72
29	2011	Great Expectations	Denby	72
30	2011	Great Expectations	Compeyson/Denby	72
31	2014	The Assets	Aldrich Ames	70
32	2015	Casanova	Comte De St Germain	65
33	2016	Victoria	Sir John Conroy	73
34	2017	Rellik	Patrick Barker	61
35	2017	Lore	Philip Smith	69
36	2018	A Discovery of Witches	Andrew Hubbard	78
37	2018	A Discovery of Witches	Father Hubbard	78
38	2024	The Way	Akela	61

Paul Rhys

Film

Television