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Paapa Essiedu
Paapa Essiedu (2016).jpg
Essiedu at the 2016 Hay Festival
Born
Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu

(1990-06-11) June 11, 1990 (age 34)
London, England
Education Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA)
Occupation Actor
Years active 2012–present

Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (/ˈpɑːpə ˌɛsiˈd/) 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), King Lear (2014), Hamlet (2016), and Romeo and Juliet (2016).

His breakthrough came with his role in the HBO the miniseries I May Destroy You (2020) earning nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award. He portrayed George Boleyn in the Channel 5 miniseries Anne Boleyn (2021). He had starring roles in the AMC+ action series Gangs of London (2020–2022), the science fiction series The Lazarus Project (2020–2023), and Black Mirror: Demon 79 (2023).

Essiedu made his feature film acting debut as a policeman in Kenneth Branagh's mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017). He took roles in the folk horror film Men (2022), the Christmas fantasy Genie (2023), and the drama The Outrun (2024). He gained acclaim for his recent stage roles in Caryl Churchill's play A Number (2022), and Lucy Prebble's play The Effect (2023–2024).

Early life and education

Born at Guy's Hospital in Southwark to Ghanaian parents, Essiedu was brought up in Walthamstow, East London by his mother, a fashion and design teacher. His father Tony had returned to Ghana, where Essiedu has a half-brother and sister, and died when Essiedu was 14.

Essiedu attended Forest School on a scholarship. Active in sports teams and theatrical productions, while growing up he wanted to be a doctor. Essiedu developed an interest in Shakespeare and was accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met and worked with Michaela Coel. He lost his mother to breast cancer while at drama school.

Career

2013–2019: Early roles

Essiedu joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 2012 to play Fenton in Phillip Breen's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Afterwards, he joined the National Theatre, playing Burgundy and understudying Edmund in Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear. When Sam Troughton lost his voice during a performance, Essiedu stepped in and played the role to critical acclaim. He appeared in Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), You For Me For You (Royal Court).

In 2016, Essiedu starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Hamlet as the titular role and King Lear as Edmund. The judges described Essiedu's Hamlet as one the audience listened to "completely still", observing Essiedu's performance could turn on a sixpence – sweet, playful and flirtatious one minute, and fiercely intelligent the next. "Like all great actors", a judge commented, he "made all the lines his own". His Edmund in King Lear was reported to convey a chilling contempt and cynicism.Paapa voiced Tunde in the BBC Radio 3 drama As Innocent As You Can Get (2016) by Rex Obano, and in the BBC Radio 4 drama Wide Open Spaces the same year, in which he played the role of a man determined to overcome his agoraphobia in order to keep his promise to visit his daughter's grave on the first anniversary of her death.

Essiedu began his television career with roles as Demetrius in Russell T Davies' television film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016), Otto in the period drama miniseries The Miniaturist (2017), Nate Akindele in the Channel 4 miniseries Kiri (2018), and Ed Washburn in the BBC One drama Press (2018). He made his feature film debut in a small role as a policeman in Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express (2017) an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name. In 2019 he acted in the Danai Gurira play The Convert starring alongside Letitia Wright at the Young Vic. Time Out praised the leads writing, "It’s Essiedu and Wright whose performances linger the most, though. He is brilliant as a clever and nervous man, quite possibly gay, desperately searching for belonging via imported ideals that he’s always secretly known are a sham."

2020–present

From 2020 to 2022 Essiedu starred as Alex Dumani in the crime drama Gangs of London on Sky Atlantic. In 2020, Essiedu portrayed Kwame in the BBC One series I May Destroy You alongside Michaela Coel. For the latter, Essiedu received critical acclaim, a number of notable nominations including for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He also won Best Ensemble alongside the rest of the cast at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards. He then played George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford in the three-parter Anne Boleyn starring Jodie Turner-Smith for Channel 5 in 2021.

In 2022, Essiedu returned to the theatre playing three separate roles in the Caryl Churchill play A Number at The Old Vic, with Lennie James. Nick Curtis of The Evening Standard praised his performance writing, "Paapa Essiedu gives a tour de force performance" adding "He’s subtly, devastatingly different in speech, stance and attitude". That same year Essiedu began starring in the Sky Max science fiction time loop series The Lazarus Project for which he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination. He also appeared in Alex Garland's folk horror film Men (2022) and joined the cast of mystery thriller series The Capture on BBC One for its second series as Isaac Turner, Security Minister and MP for Hazlemere South.

In 2023 he acted in the Black Mirror episode Demon 79 alongside Anjana Vasan. Jack King of GQ cited it as "the best Black Mirror episode in years". He elaborated on Essiedu's performance, "It also serves as another platform for Essiedu's chameleonic acting abilities...Between this and his riveting parts in The Capture, I May Destroy You and The Lazarus Project, he's not only showing himself to be one hell of a talent but one with exciting range." He returned to the stage starring opposite Taylor Russell in the Jamie Lloyd directed revival of the Lucy Prebble play The Effect at the National Theatre in 2023 and at The Shed in 2024. He acted opposite Saoirse Ronan in the film The Outrun which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Personal life

Essiedu is in a relationship with actress and comedian Rosa Robson; they had been together for six years as of 2022.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 Murder on the Orient Express Sergeant Campbell
2022 Men James
2023 Genie Bernard Bottle
2024 The Outrun Daynin
TBA Kill the Light Tom
Sweet Dreams Billy
The Scurry Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Utopia Roy 2 episodes
2015 Not Safe For Work Paul 1 episode
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Demetrius Television film
2017 The Miniaturist Otto 3 episodes
2018 Kiri Nate Akindele 4 episodes
2018 Press Ed Washburn 6 episodes
2018 Black Earth Rising Jaalen Episode: "In Other News"
2020–2022 Gangs of London Alex Dumani 8 episodes
2020 I May Destroy You Kwame 12 episodes
2021 Anne Boleyn George Boleyn 3 episodes
2022-2023 The Lazarus Project George 16 episodes
2022 The Capture Isaac Turner 6 episodes
2023 Black Mirror Gaap Episode: "Demon 79"

Theatre

Year Title Role Playwright Notes Ref.
2013 Black Jesus Gabriel Anders Lustgarten Finborough Theatre, London
2014 King Lear Burgundy William Shakespeare Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
2015 Romeo and Juliet Romeo Tobacco Factory, Bristol
2015 You For Me For You Wade Mia Chung Royal Court, London
2016, 2018 Hamlet Hamlet William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company Tour
2016 King Lear Edmund Barbican Theatre, West End
2017 Racing Demon Tony Ferris David Hare Theatre Royal, Bath
2018 Pinter One Various roles Harold Pinter Harold Pinter Theatre, West End
2019 The Convert Chilford Danai Gurira Young Vic, London
2020 Pass Over Moses Antoinette Nwandu Kiln Theatre, London
2022 A Number Michael / Bernard Caryl Churchill Old Vic Theatre
2023 The Effect Tristan Lucy Prebble National Theatre, London
2024 The Shed, New York City

Accolades

Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2012 Ian Charleson Awards The Merry Wives of Windsor Nominated
2016 Hamlet, King Lear Won
2021 Independent Spirit Awards Best Ensemble Cast I May Destroy You Won
Black Reel Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor – TV Movie or Limited Series Nominated
British Academy Television Awards Best Actor Nominated
Dorian Awards Best Supporting TV Performance Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Nominated
2022 Evening Standard Theatre Awards Best Actor A Number Nominated
2023 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards Best Actor The Lazarus Project, The Capture, Gangs of London Pending
Evening Standard Theatre Awards Best Actor The Effect Nominated
2024 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Performer in a Play Pending
Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance Pending
British Academy Television Award Best Actor The Lazarus Project Nominated
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