Paul Ready

Acting

Paul Ready

Born 1977-06-23 · Birmingham, England, UK

Paul John Ready (born 23 June 1977) is a British actor known for portraying Kevin Brady in Motherland (2016-2022), Lee in Utopia (2013–2014), Rob MacDonald in Bodyguard (2018), and Henry Goodsir in The Terror (2018). His film credits include The Death of Stalin (2017), The Dig (2021), Heart of Stone (2023), and Bring Them Down (2025). He is recognised for his ability to take on diverse roles and bring depth to his characters in different genres. Paul was born in Birmingham and, growing up in the town of Harborne, he attended King Edward VI Five Ways school. He went on to train at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and, at the age of 17, he played Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, playing opposite Rosamund Pike's Juliet. He is a regular at the National and Royal Court theatres. Past appearances have included leading parts in Major Barbara and Saint Joan (both plays by George Bernard Shaw) and Time and the Conways by J.B. Priestley. His West End credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which starred Christian Slater. Ready is married to actress and writer Michelle Terry, whom he met in Shakespeare's Globe 2009 production of Love's Labour's Lost — they have one daughter. In 2018 he starred as the titular character in Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, opposite Terry as Lady Macbeth. In 2020, he and Terry returned to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as Petruchio and Biondello respectively in The Taming of the Shrew. In 2025, he starred in Chekhov's Three Sisters as Aleksandr Vershinin, once again alongside Terry. Paul received a commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards in 2003.

Acting credits

The Death of Stalin poster
7.0

When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains — just who is running the government?

The Death of Stalin

2017

The Dig poster
6.8

As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain's past resonate in the face of its uncertain future‎.

The Dig

2021

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman poster
7.1

Following in his father's footsteps, Albert Pierrepoint becomes one of Britain's most prolific executioners, hiding his identity as a grocery deliveryman. But when his ambition to be the best inadvertently exposes his gruesome secret, he becomes a minor celebrity & faces a public outcry against the practice of hanging. Based on true events.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

2005

Heart of Stone poster
6.7

An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable — and dangerous — weapon.

Heart of Stone

2023

Princess of Thieves poster
6.1

Sherwood forest has a courageous new hero - Gwyn, the daughter of Robin Hood. Possessing the cunning skills of her legendary father and the beauty and intelligence of her mother Maid Marian, Gwyn is anxious to follow in her father's footsteps. King Richard nears death and Robin Hood and his Merry Men are summoned to help bring Richard's son Philip to his rightful place on the throne before the evil Prince John can assume power. Robin Hood's life and that of the future King of England soon lies in Gwyn's hands when Robin is captured and sentenced to death.

Princess of Thieves

2001

Bring Them Down poster
6.7

When the ongoing rivalry between farmers Michael and Jack suddenly escalates, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent and devastating turns, leaving both families permanently altered.

Bring Them Down

2025

Capture poster
6.3

The search for their missing son leads a mother and father to a tech company, and a digital gatekeeper who seems to have all the answers.

Capture

2023

Angels and Insects poster
6.2

In Victorian England, wealthy patriarch Sir Harald Alabaster invites an impoverished biologist, William Adamson, into his home. There, William tries to continue his work, but is distracted by Alabaster's seductive daughter, Eugenia. William and Eugenia begin a torrid romance, but as the couple become closer, the young scientist begins to realize that dark, disturbing things are happening behind the closed doors of the Alabaster manor.

Angels and Insects

1995

All That Glitters poster
NR

After accidentally summoning the ghost of William Shakespeare, an insecure teenager tries to land the role of Romeo in his school play and win over the girl playing Juliet, with the Bard as his guide.

All That Glitters

2026

Private Peaceful poster
6.6

Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.

Private Peaceful

2012

Plain Jane poster
9.0

Drama set in 1911 about a love triangle concerning a father, his son and their maid, Jane.

Plain Jane

2002

Maybe Baby poster
5.5

Sam and Lucie Bell are a married couple who seem to have it all: good looks, successful careers, matching motorbikes, and an enthusiastic love life. The only thing they lack is the one thing they want more—a baby.

Maybe Baby

2000

Utopia poster
8.0

After a group of people, who meet online, discover a bizarre graphic novel which seems to hold mysterious answers, they find themselves being tracked down by a merciless organization known merely as 'The Network'.

Utopia

2013

National Theatre at Home: Summerfolk poster
NR

It's a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia's elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they're having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can't shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time. As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon? Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky's Edge) directs Maxim Gorky's razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, revived for 2026 in a new adaptation from Nina Raine (Consent) and Moses Raine (Donkey Heart).

National Theatre at Home: Summerfolk

2026

Beside Himself poster
NR

It’s the middle of the night, and local eccentric Kevin Devlin arrives at a Belfast police station with an urgent confession to make. Only problem is, he’s one hundred percent innocent. He might just be the last innocent soul in the city. But when Constable Beattie, the only officer still on duty, tries to send him away, matters take a dangerous turn for both herself and Devlin. Just how far will Devlin go to find absolution? And what is it he really wants to confess anyway?

Beside Himself

2016

Motherland: Last Christmas poster
NR

School's out for the festive season, so the mums (and Kevin) host the ultimate blended celebrations, but the big day takes a shocking turn at Julia's.

Motherland: Last Christmas

2022

Jeffrey Archer: The Truth poster
4.7

A satirical look at the 'secret' TRUE life of Jeffrey Archer. The Truth, the whole truth and everything BUT the truth.

Jeffrey Archer: The Truth

2002

National Theatre Live: London Assurance poster
7.0

Grace has agreed to marry Sir Harcourt in return for his financial support of her family. At a house party in her father's place, Harcourt's son Charles also falls in love with Grace. When his father appears on the scene, he has to convince him that there is a case of mistaken identity and he is somebody else. Then Lady Gay Spanker, a married woman also visiting at the house, is persuaded by Charles to seduce his father and thus divert his attention from Grace. Much confusion and scheming ensues. One of the first five episodes also released on terrestrial TV on a 2009 BBC TV series titled "National Theatre Live".

National Theatre Live: London Assurance

2010

The Circuit poster
7.0

Newly arrived in town Nat and Gabe accept a dinner invitation from the volatile Hungarian Helene and her boorish husband Sasha. Whilst the other guests, ex-Bananarama member Marty, Angie, who 'makes bullets' and the supposedly suicidal Danny are affable enough, Nat and Gabe are shocked by their hosts' very public rows and Gabe's attempt at peace-making is awkwardly received. Nat is taken aback when virtual stranger Helene confides in her about Sasha's suspected infidelity and Gabe is rudely rebuffed when he tries to have a heart to heart with Sasha. After Helene physically attacks her husband the newcomers are desperate to leave but when Danny drops a bombshell Gabe is torn between responsibility and the easy way out.

The Circuit

2016

Muse poster
8.0

An artist turns to his android muse for help when trying to sell his newest paintings, but events take a dark and disturbing turn when the android learns what has inspired the work.

Muse

2020

Love's Labour's Lost - Live at Shakespeare's Globe poster
NR

A scholarly king and his three companions swear off the society of women for three years, only to have a diplomatic visit from a French princess and her three ladies-in-waiting thwart their intentions.

Love's Labour's Lost - Live at Shakespeare's Globe

2010

One Wrong Word poster
NR

Novelist Tony faces the most difficult obstacle yet to publishing his magnum opus: his publishers.

One Wrong Word

2013