Paul Rhys

Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.

Early life

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Career

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 Julian Temple's film Absolute Beginners.^[3] Rhys completed his education at RADA by winning the William Pole prize and the Bancroft Gold Medal.

Film

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.

Television

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);^[4] 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.

Theatre

Rhys’ early stage work included performances at Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Riverside Studios, Compass Theatre, and Young Vic. His first appearance at the Royal National Theatre was opposite Ian McKellen in Bent,^[5] subsequently playing Angelo in Simon McBurney's Measure for Measure for which he won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award; Housman in The Invention of Love; and Edgar in King Lear, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. He appeared as Edmund in Long Day's Journey into Night and as Leo in Design for Living at The Donmar Warehouse, performing opposite Rachel Weisz and Clive Owen. In 2000 he played the title role in Hamlet at the Young Vic and later in Tokyo and Osaka. He received several awards for this performance.^[6] Rhys continued his collaboration with Simon McBurney in Vanishing Points, The Dark is Rising, and The Master in Master and Margarita. The show opened at the Barbican in 2010 and continued on international tour, returning to the Barbican for a second sell-out season in 2012.^[7][8] In 2016, he starred in a new version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya by Robert Icke at The Almeida Theatre alongside Tobias Menzies, Jessica Brown-Findlay and Vanessa Kirby.

Real-life characters played by Rhys have included Vlad Tepes, Ludwig van Beethoven,^[9] Peter Mandelson,^[10] Paul McCartney, Thomas De Quincey, A. E. Housman, Frédéric Chopin, Marcus Tullius Cicero and Charles Talleyrand.

On two occasions, Rhys was taken to hospital while working on a stage production, once with pneumonia and, on the other occasion, with exhaustion.^[11] In the title role in Howard Brenton's play Paul at the Royal National Theatre, he was unable to continue as he had lost an unhealthy amount of weight, dropping from 76 to 57 kilograms (168 to 126 lb).

Radio

Rhys has acted in over one hundred BBC Radio dramas. His roles include: Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint (1995),^[12] Prince Myshkin in Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot (2002),^[13] Charles Lamb in Carlo Gébler's Charles and Mary (2011),^[14] and Jacques Futrelle's Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen in The Rivals (2011–2013).^[15]

Personal life

Rhys was in a relationship with the late Australian actress Arkie Whiteley,^[16][17] with whom he appeared in Gallowglass. When Whiteley was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 36, he nursed her until her death.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Absolute Beginners	Dean Swift
1987	Lionheart	Mayor of the Underground City
1987	Little Dorrit	Charles Stiltstalking
1989	Spirit	Douglas Rimmer
1990	Vincent & Theo	Theo van Gogh
1991	Becoming Colette	Chapo
1992	Rebecca's Daughters	Anthony Raine
1992	Chaplin	Sydney Chaplin
1995	Nina Takes a Lover	Photographer
1999	Love Lies Bleeding	Dr. Jonathan Stephens
1999	The Strange Case of Delphina Potocka or The Mystery of Chopin	Frédéric Chopin
2001	From Hell	Dr. Ferral
2002	Food of Love[18]	Richard Kennington
2003	Vacuum	Adam	Short film
2003	Y Mabinogi	Lord Pwyll	Voice
2003	The Deal	Peter Mandelson
2005	Hellraiser: Deader	Winter	Direct-to-video
2007	Unknown Things	Hoogstraten
2011	Eliminate: Archie Cookson	Archie Cookson	BIFFF Thriller Prize - Special Mention
2023	Napoleon	Talleyrand
2023	Saltburn	Duncan
2023	Widow Clicquot	Droite

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	My Family and Other Animals	George
1988	Tumbledown	Hugh MacKessac	Television film
1988	The Heroes	Ivan Lyon
1990	Screen Two	Amable Massis	Series 7, Episode 5: "102 Boulevard Haussmann"
1990	Opium Eaters	Thomas De Quincey	Television film
1992	Chillers	Adam Marshall	Series 1, Episode 9: "A Bird Poised to Fly"
1993	Gallowglass	Sandor
1994	The Healer	Dr. John Lassiter	Television film; BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor
1994	A Summer's Day Dream	Christopher	Television film
1995	Ghosts	Captain Peter Buckle	Series 1, Episode 2: "Blood and Water"
1995	The Haunting of Helen Walker	Edward Goffe	Television film
1996	Kavanagh QC	Sam Wicks	Series 2, Episode 6: "Job Satisfaction"
1997	A Dance to the Music of Time	Charles Stringham
1998	Performance	Edgar	King Lear
2000	Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)	Douglas Milton	Series 1, Episode 4: "Paranoia"
2000	I Saw You	Ben Walters	Television film
2000	Anna Karenina	Nikolai
2001	The Innocent	David Pastorov	Television film
2001	The Cazalets	Rupert Cazalet
2002	I Saw You	Ben Walters
2002	The Lives of Animals	John	Television film
2003	Murder in Mind	Matthew Hopkins	Series 3, Episode 1: "Echoes"
2005	Timewatch	Cicero	Episode: "Murder in Rome"
2005	Beethoven	Ludwig van Beethoven
2006	The Ten Commandments	Ramesses II
2008	Bonekickers	Edward Laygass	Series 1, Episode 1: "Army of God"
2008	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Robin Upward	Series 11, Episode 1: "Mrs McGinty's Dead"
2008	Spooks	Alexis Meynell	Series 7, Episode 5
2009	The Queen	Prince Charles	Series 1, Episode 4: "The Enemy Within"
2010	Being Human	Ivan	5 episodes
2010	Luther	Lucien Burgess	Series 1, Episode 3
2010	New Tricks	Sebastian Carter	Series 7, Episode 1: "Dead Man Talking"
2010	When Harvey Met Bob	Paul McCartney	Television film
2010	Agatha Christie's Marple	Lewis Pritchard	Series 5, Episode 3: "The Blue Geranium"
2011	Murdoch Mysteries	Dr. Llewellyn Francis	3 episodes
2011	Moving On	Andy	Series 3, Episode 4: "Donor"
2011	Great Expectations	Compeyson/Denby
2013–14	Borgia	Leonardo da Vinci	6 episodes
2013–15	Da Vinci's Demons	Vlad the Impaler	4 episodes
2014	The Assets	Aldrich Ames
2015–17	TURN	George III	3 episodes
2015	Casanova	Count of St. Germain	Television film
2016	Victoria	Sir John Conroy	3 episodes
2017	Rellik	Patrick Barker	3 episodes
2018	Lore	Philip Smith	Series 2, Episode 5: "Mary Webster: The Witch of Hadley"
2021	A Discovery of Witches	Andrew Hubbard	Series 2, 3
2023	Men Up	Tommy Cadogan	Television film

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Bouncers	Ralph	Yorkshire Actors
1984	A Woman of No Importance	Gerald Arbuthnot	Glasgow Citizens Theatre
1985	La Vie parisienne	Milord	Glasgow Citizens Theatre
1986	The Orphan	Polydore	Greenwich Theatre
1986	The Merchant of Venice	Lorenzo	Royal Shakespeare Company
1986	Much Ado About Nothing	Claudio	Royal Shakespeare Company
1987	Ghetto	Solomon	Riverside Studios
1988	The Government Inspector	Khlestakov	Compass Theatre
1990	Bent	Rudy	Royal National Theatre
1994	Design for Living	Leo	Donmar Warehouse
1995–96	Long Day's Journey Into Night[19]	Edmund	Young Vic
1997	King Lear	Edgar	Royal National Theatre; Nominated — Laurence Olivier Award
1997	The Invention of Love	Houseman	Royal National Theatre
1999–2000	Hamlet	Hamlet	Young Vic; Barclays Theatre Award
2004	Measure for Measure	Angelo	Royal National Theatre; Critics' Circle Theatre Award
2005	Paul	Paul	Royal National Theatre
2012	The Master and Margarita	Woland/The Master	Barbican Theatre
2016	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya	Almeida Theatre

References

1. "Trivia - Paul Rhys". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
2. "Wales ~ Land Of My Fathers". Wales ~ Land Of My Fathers. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
3. Vanity Fair. Condé Nast Publications. 1986. p. 61.
4. Wales Online: "Actor Paul Rhys on the day he mud wrestled Ray Winstone", 12 November 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2013
5. "BENT (1990) with Ian McKellen". www.mckellen.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
6. Gibbons, Fiachra (8 November 1999). "Award victory for play denied West End run". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
7. "The Master and Margarita - review". The Guardian. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
8. "Theatre review: The Master and Margarita at Barbican Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
9. BBC Press Office
10. Guardian Reviews, The Deal, Channel 4, 16/9/2003
11. "Actor Paul Rhys on the day he mud wrestled Ray Winstone". WalesOnline. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
12. "Leslie Charteris - The Saint". BBC Radio. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
13. "Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot". BBC Radio. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
14. "Charles and Mary". BBC Radio. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
15. "The Rivals". BBC Radio. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
16. "The will to win". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 December 2002. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
17. "Shortly after my girlfriend died I felt her shouting for help..." Free Library. 24 January 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
18. Film Actors. IFilm Publishing. 2002. p. 430. ISBN 978-1-58065-020-5.
19. Carole Zucker (1999). In the Company of Actors: Reflections on the Craft of Acting. Psychology Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-415-92545-7.

External links

• Paul Rhys at IMDb