Paapa Essiedu

Acting

Paapa Essiedu

Born

1990-06-11 (36)

Place of birth

Southwark, London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

44 titles

Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (/ˈpɑːpə ˌɛsiˈeɪduː/; born 11 June 1990) is a British actor. He started his career in 2012 when he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, acting in numerous production including The Merry Wives of Windsor (2012), Hamlet (2016), and King Lear (2016). He has won an Independent Spirit Award and a Laurence Olivier Award and has been nominated for numerous other accolades such as a nominations for a British Academy Television Award, a Dorian Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. His screen breakthrough came in 2020 with his role in BBC One's I May Destroy You, earning nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award. He portrayed George Boleyn in th…

Known for

The Graham Norton Show poster
7.2

Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.

The Graham Norton Show

2007

Black Mirror poster
8.3

Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.

Black Mirror

2011

Gangs of London poster
7.8

When the head of a criminal organisation, Finn Wallace is assassinated, the sudden power vacuum his death creates threatens the fragile peace between the intricate web of gangs operating on the streets of the city. Now it’s up to the grieving, volatile and impulsive Sean Wallace to restore control and find those responsible for killing his father.

Gangs of London

2020

The Capture poster
7.6

When soldier Shaun Emery's conviction for a murder in Afghanistan is overturned due to flawed video evidence, he returns to life as a free man with his young daughter. But when damning CCTV footage from a night out in London comes to light, Shaun's life takes a shocking turn and he must soon fight for his freedom once again.

The Capture

2019

Black Doves poster
7.0

When a spy posing as a politician's wife learns her lover has been murdered, an old assassin friend joins her on a quest for truth — and vengeance.

Black Doves

2024

The Lazarus Project poster
7.1

George wakes up to find himself several months in the past before being recruited for the Lazarus Project – a secret organization that turns back time when the world is at threat of extinction.

The Lazarus Project

2022

Film credits

2020s · 11 titles

Men poster
6.1

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to find a place to heal. But someone — or something — from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her, and what begins as simmering dread becomes a fully-formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears.

Men

2022

The Outrun poster
6.8

Fresh out of rehab, Rona returns to the Orkney Islands—a place both wild and beautiful, right off the Scottish coast. Now 29 and after more than a decade of living life on the edge in London, where she both found and lost love, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her traumatic childhood merge with more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery.

The Outrun

2024

Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic poster
7.7

Featuring interviews from members of the casting, production design, costume design, and creature effects teams, follow the behind-the-scenes journey of bringing the Harry Potter books to the small screen. Find out how the new Golden Trio were found, and celebrate the commitment to detail of the artists, craftspeople, and technicians who have come together to bring the wizarding world to life.

Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic

2026

Genie poster
6.5

Flora, a genie trapped for more than 2,000 years inside an antique jewelry box, is accidentally called to service by Bernard, whose life is unraveling around him.

Genie

2023

National Theatre Live: All My Sons poster
10.0

One family, the heart of the American dream. When wartime delivers profits for Joe Heller, it comes at a price when his partner is charged with criminal manufacturing deals, and his eldest son goes missing in action. Will peacetime bring peace of mind, or will he be confronted by the consequence of his actions?

National Theatre Live: All My Sons

2026

The Name of Action poster
NR

A look at why Hamlet, a play that’s over 400 years old, holds a mirror up to society today. Filmed across four days of workshops with youth theatre groups across London: The Big House, Bush Theatre Young Companies, Centre 59, and Open Door.

The Name of Action

2026

Femme poster
7.9

When Jordan gets into the car of a flirtatious drug-dealer, his night takes a dangerous turn.

Femme

2021

Laundreams poster
NR

Twenty-somethings Minnie and Leah have never left their hometown. When former coworker Danny unexpectedly returns, the pair spiral into a chaotic attempt to impress him, only to discover that the lives and relationships they’ve overlooked may be exactly what they need.

Laundreams

2025

National Theatre Live: The Effect poster
5.0

Hearts and minds racing, Connie and Tristan are falling for each other fast. But is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real, or a side effect of a new antidepressant? As two young volunteers in a clinical drug trial, their illicit romance poses startling dilemmas for the supervising doctors.

National Theatre Live: The Effect

2024

The Exit Plan poster
7.5

Martha is a widow living out in the remote English countryside. She's also living at a time when overpopulation has strained the world's limited resources, and global governments regularly cull people over 80 who aren't living with family or other caretakers as part of an initiative called "The Exit Plan."

The Exit Plan

2021

National Theatre Live: Death of England: Delroy poster
NR

Unapologetically upwardly mobile and working as a bailiff, Delroy’s life spirals out of control on one surreal day as he races to get to the hospital where his girlfriend Carly is about to give birth.

National Theatre Live: Death of England: Delroy

2025

2010s · 10 titles

Murder on the Orient Express poster
6.7

Genius Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an American tycoon aboard the Orient Express train.

Murder on the Orient Express

2017

The Miniaturist poster
7.1

A woman moves to live with her new husband in 17th century Amsterdam, but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems.

The Miniaturist

2017

Shakespeare Live! From the RSC poster
7.4

From the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, David Tennant, Catherine Tate and guests mark the life of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.

Shakespeare Live! From the RSC

2016

RSC Live: King Lear poster
8.0

King Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. Misjudging his children’s loyalty and finding himself alone in the wilderness, he is left to confront the mistakes of a life that has brought him to this point. Antony Sher plays King Lear, one of the greatest parts written by Shakespeare in this, one of Shakespeare’s most epic and powerful plays.

RSC Live: King Lear

2016

A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
5.3

At the tyrannical court of Athens, pitiless dictator Theseus plans his wedding to Hippolyta, a prisoner of war, while young Hermia is sentenced to death by her own father for loving the wrong man. Meanwhile, in the town below, an amateur theatre group rehearses. And beyond Athens, in the wild woods, dark forces are stirring...

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2016

National Theatre Live: King Lear poster
7.1

An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Simon Russell Beale, whose recent appearances at the National include Timon of Athens and Collaborators, takes the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy.

National Theatre Live: King Lear

2014

RSC Live: Hamlet poster
8.2

Hamlet has the world at his feet. Young, wealthy and living a hedonistic life studying abroad. Then word reaches him that his father is dead. Returning home he finds his world is utterly changed, his certainties smashed and his home a foreign land. Struggling to understand his place in a new world order he faces a stark choice. Submit, or rage against the injustice of his new reality. Simon Godwin directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare's searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own mortality in an imperfect world. Hamlet played in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until throughout summer 2016.

RSC Live: Hamlet

2016

Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70 poster
6.0

A special documentary to mark the seventieth birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales. For this observational documentary, film-maker John Bridcut has had exclusive access to the prince over the past 12 months, both at work and behind the scenes, at home and abroad. He speaks to those who know him best, including HRH the Duchess of Cornwall and the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex. His sons discuss their upbringing and their feelings about the prince's working life.

Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70

2018

Canned poster
6.0

A dark comedy. Three school friends each suffering from a 'quarter-life-crisis' are thrown back together again following a tragedy. Can their friendship re-blossom and in doing so help each of them figure out this life business?

Canned

2017

Stand Still poster
NR

The darkness of postnatal depression threatens to overwhelm Susannah, but a chance encounter with Rupa might be the help she needs.

Stand Still

2019

Series credits

The Graham Norton Show poster
7.2

Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.

The Graham Norton Show

2007

Black Mirror poster
8.3

Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.

Black Mirror

2011

Gangs of London poster
7.8

When the head of a criminal organisation, Finn Wallace is assassinated, the sudden power vacuum his death creates threatens the fragile peace between the intricate web of gangs operating on the streets of the city. Now it’s up to the grieving, volatile and impulsive Sean Wallace to restore control and find those responsible for killing his father.

Gangs of London

2020

The Capture poster
7.6

When soldier Shaun Emery's conviction for a murder in Afghanistan is overturned due to flawed video evidence, he returns to life as a free man with his young daughter. But when damning CCTV footage from a night out in London comes to light, Shaun's life takes a shocking turn and he must soon fight for his freedom once again.

The Capture

2019

The Capture poster
7.6

When soldier Shaun Emery's conviction for a murder in Afghanistan is overturned due to flawed video evidence, he returns to life as a free man with his young daughter. But when damning CCTV footage from a night out in London comes to light, Shaun's life takes a shocking turn and he must soon fight for his freedom once again.

The Capture

2019

Black Doves poster
7.0

When a spy posing as a politician's wife learns her lover has been murdered, an old assassin friend joins her on a quest for truth — and vengeance.

Black Doves

2024

The Lazarus Project poster
7.1

George wakes up to find himself several months in the past before being recruited for the Lazarus Project – a secret organization that turns back time when the world is at threat of extinction.

The Lazarus Project

2022

Harry Potter poster
NR

There is nothing special about Harry Potter - at least that's what his Aunt Petunia always says. On his 11th birthday, a letter of admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opens up a hidden world for Harry: one of fun, friendship and magic. But with this new adventure comes great risk as Harry is forced to face a dangerous enemy from his past.

Harry Potter

2026

Utopia poster
7.9

The Utopia Experiments is a legendary graphic novel shrouded in mystery. When a group of strangers find themselves in possession of an original manuscript, their lives suddenly and brutally implode.

Utopia

2013

Black Earth Rising poster
6.5

As a child, Kate Ashby was rescued from the horrific aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and brought to the UK. But the tragic shadow of her past proves impossible to escape.

Black Earth Rising

2018

Glastonbury poster
NR

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. The festival is best known for its contemporary music, but also features dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and many other arts. For 2005, the enclosed area of the festival was over 900 acres, had over 385 live performances and was attended by around 150,000 people. While the villagers of Pilton have been complaining about the noise generated during the weekend for many years, in 2007 over 700 acts played on over 80 stages. Glastonbury was heavily influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement in the 1970s, especially the Isle of Wight Festival.

Glastonbury

1997

I May Destroy You poster
7.2

Set in London, where gratification is only an app away, the story centers on Arabella, a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when her drink is spiked, she must question and rebuild every element of her life.

I May Destroy You

2020

Babies poster
3.3

Lisa and Stephen are dealing with the painful struggle of pregnancy loss while life continues around them. However, despite facing dark times of grief and loneliness, they are finding their way through it with a burning sense of hope, humour, and love, realising the strength of their relationship, which will ultimately bring them closer than ever.

Babies

2026

Falling poster
2.2

A nun and priest, each dedicated to their religious calling, unexpectedly fall in love and must confront what this means for their vows and faith.

Falling

2026

The Miniaturist poster
7.1

Nella Oortman's life changes drastically when she marries a wealthy merchant and moves to Amsterdam. As she struggles to win her husband's affection, she discovers dark secrets along the way.

The Miniaturist

2017

Not Safe for Work poster
6.8

Not Safe for Work is a 2015 British comedy-drama series created and written by D.C. Moore for Channel 4. A group of disillusioned Londoner civil servants are forced to relocate to Northampton after public sector cuts, focusing on their personal and professional struggles as they navigate a new, less glamourous office environment.

Not Safe for Work

2015

Kiri poster
6.1

A drama dealing with the abduction and murder of a young black girl, soon to be adopted by her white foster family, and the trail of lies, blame, guilt and notoriety which follow.

Kiri

2018

Press poster
7.0

Follows the contrasting worlds of left-wing The Herald (broadsheet) and right-wing The Post (tabloid), highlighting the challenges of modern journalism, including hacking scandals and the rise of online media.

Press

2018

Anne Boleyn poster
2.2

The final months of Anne Boleyn's life, her struggle with Tudor England's patriarchal society, her desire to secure a future for her daughter, Elizabeth, and the brutal reality of her failure to provide Henry with a male heir.

Anne Boleyn

2021

Unsaid Stories poster
NR

Four short dramas inspired by Black Lives Matter and exploring racism in its many forms.

Unsaid Stories

2020