Paul Rhys

Acting

Paul Rhys

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

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.

Acting credits

“Wuthering Heights” poster
6.7

Tragedy strikes when Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine Earnshaw, a woman from a wealthy family in 18th-century England.

“Wuthering Heights”

2026

Napoleon poster
6.3

An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.

Napoleon

2023

Saltburn poster
6.9

Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.

Saltburn

2023

Hellraiser: Deader poster
4.6

When a tough-as-nails reporter is lead to a mysterious cult and the evil Pinhead, any moment could be her last.

Hellraiser: Deader

2005

Chaplin poster
7.4

An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.

Chaplin

1992

From Hell poster
6.7

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

2001

Madfabulous poster
6.0

When the flamboyant Henry Paget arrives in 1890s North Wales to claim his aristocratic inheritance, his theatrical flair and defiant eccentricities send shockwaves through the upper-class elite, much to the amusement of the local townspeople. Alongside his spirited cousin, Lily, and loyal butler, Gelert, Henry tries to carve out his own identity as the Fifth Marquess, navigating suffocating traditions, scheming relatives, and the long shadow cast by his estranged father.

Madfabulous

2026

No artwork available
NR

An antiques dealer in London is obsessed with the wife of one of his clients and seeks out ever-more unusual collectible mechanical objects to be near her for longer.

Unknown Things

2007

Widow Clicquot poster
6.6

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

2024

Absolute Beginners poster
5.5

A musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel about life in late 1950s London. Nineteen-year-old photographer Colin is hopelessly in love with model Crepe Suzette, but her relationships are strictly connected with her progress in the fashion world. So Colin gets involved with a pop promoter and tries to crack the big time. Meanwhile, racial tension is brewing in Colin's Notting Hill housing estate...

Absolute Beginners

1986

Casanova poster
8.2

Exiled from his beloved Venice, Giacomo Casanova flees to Paris at the dawn of the Enlightenment in hopes of putting his reputation as a playboy behind him. But old habits die hard, and temptation is everywhere as Casanova finds a wealth of new opportunity and trouble.

Casanova

2015

Men Up poster
6.3

In Morriston Hospital in Swansea in 1994 a group of ordinary middle-aged Welsh men stepped into the unknown by taking part in the world's first medical trials for the drug that became Viagra.

Men Up

2024

The Healer poster
8.0

Alberto, a Colombian migrant, has the gift of healing but can't heal his own dark past. Working in London to send money home, he is tortured by dark visions, that will determine his own destiny - Your future is in his hands.

The Healer

1994

The Deal poster
6.8

It is approaching an election in the UK when the leader of the Labour party, John Smith, suffers another in a line of heart attacks and dies. With the leadership campaign about to start the clear choice appears to be Gordon Brown, a stanch Scotsman. However Tony Blair is also beginning to appear more likely as he will appeal to Southern voters who would be turned off by Brown. Blair rings Brown to arrange a meeting to discuss which will go for the job. The film flashbacks to the start of their relationship, sharing an office in Westminster on their first seats.

The Deal

2003

102 Boulevard Haussmann poster
7.5

In 1916 author Marcel Proust is leading a reclusive life in Paris. He hires a quartet of musicians and befriends one of them, a wounded serviceman.

102 Boulevard Haussmann

1990

Rebecca's Daughters poster
6.5

Young aristocrat Anthony Raine returns home from India to find the farmers of Pembrokeshire protesting about the rates of a tollgate run by The Whitman Turnpike Trust, headed by the drunken Lord Sarn. So Raine dons a mask and, calling himself Rebecca, instructs his followers to dress as women as they attack the tolls, leading the common people to victory over their masters.

Rebecca's Daughters

1992

Vincent & Theo poster
6.3

The tragic story of Vincent van Gogh broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. Based on the letters written between the two.

Vincent & Theo

1990

Food of Love poster
5.7

Young aspiring pianist attracts attention of famous musicians. Chance encounters bring them together but expectations must be managed by all.

Food of Love

2002

Lionheart poster
5.6

A young knight sets out to join King Richards crusaders. Along the way, he encounters The Black Prince who captures children and sells them as slaves to the Muslims. It is Robert Narra's sworn duty to protect the children and lead them to safety.

Lionheart

1987

Tumbledown poster
5.7

The film centers on the experiences of Robert Lawrence MC, an officer of the Scots Guards during the Falklands War of 1982. While fighting at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, Lawrence is shot in the head by an Argentine sniper and left paralyzed on his left side. He then must learn to adjust to his new disability.

Tumbledown

1988

Becoming Colette poster
4.3

French writer recalls her start as the country wife of a Paris publisher who called her erotic work his own.

Becoming Colette

1991

The Spirit poster
4.9

A legally dead police detective decides to battle crime as a masked superhero.

The Spirit

1987

Otherworld poster
5.7

Whilst celebrating Lleu's 18th birthday, Lleu and two friends go for a boat ride, when they discover beneath the water the golden doorway to the Mabinogi (the Otherworld). They swim down and are transported back in time many centuries to the Mabinogi. There they encounter some problems with mediaeval life, and they have to deal with the conflict between fate personal choice and magic

Otherworld

2003

King Lear poster
8.5

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

King Lear

1998