1. Paapa Essiedu started his career in 2012 when he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company acting in numerous production including The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, and King Lear.
26 Facts About Paapa Essiedu
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Paapa Essiedu portrayed George Boleyn in the Channel 5 historical drama Anne Boleyn.
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Paapa Essiedu had starring roles in the AMC+ action series Gangs of London, the science fiction series The Lazarus Project, and Black Mirror: Demon 79.
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Paapa Essiedu took roles in the horror film Men, the fantasy film Genie, and the drama The Outrun.
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Paapa Essiedu gained acclaim for his stage roles in Caryl Churchill's play A Number, and Lucy Prebble's play The Effect.
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Paapa Essiedu developed an interest in Shakespeare, having been robustly encouraged to act by his A level Drama teacher at Forest, and was accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met and worked with Michaela Coel.
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Paapa Essiedu's mother died of breast cancer while he was at drama school.
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Paapa Essiedu joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012 to play Fenton in Phillip Breen's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
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When Sam Troughton lost his voice during a performance, Paapa Essiedu stepped in and played the role to critical acclaim.
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Paapa Essiedu appeared in Outside on the Street, Black Jesus, Romeo and Juliet, You For Me For You.
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In 2016, Paapa Essiedu starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Hamlet as the titular role and King Lear as Edmund.
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Paapa Essiedu voiced Tunde in the BBC Radio 3 drama As Innocent As You Can Get 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.
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Paapa Essiedu began his television career with roles as Demetrius in Russell T Davies' television film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Otto in the period drama The Miniaturist, Nate Akindele in the Channel 4's Kiri, and Ed Washburn in the BBC One drama Press.
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Paapa Essiedu made his feature film debut in a small role as a policeman in Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.
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Paapa Essiedu 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.
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From 2020 to 2022, Paapa Essiedu starred as Alex Dumani in the crime drama Gangs of London on Sky Atlantic.
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In 2020, Paapa Essiedu portrayed Kwame in the BBC One series I May Destroy You alongside Michaela Coel.
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Paapa Essiedu won Best Ensemble alongside the rest of the cast at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards.
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Paapa Essiedu then played George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford in the three-parter Anne Boleyn starring Jodie Turner-Smith for Channel 5 in 2021.
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In 2022, Paapa Essiedu returned to the theatre playing three separate roles in the Caryl Churchill play A Number at The Old Vic, with Lennie James.
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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".
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That same year Paapa 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.
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Paapa Essiedu appeared in Alex Garland's folk horror film Men 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.
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Paapa Essiedu acted opposite Saoirse Ronan in the film The Outrun which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
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Paapa Essiedu will portray Severus Snape in the HBO television adaption of the Harry Potter series.
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Paapa Essiedu is married to actress and comedian Rosa Robson; they had been in a relationship for eight years as of 2024.