Paul Rhys is a Welsh actor with an extensive body of work in theater, television, and film.
Rhys was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he received the Bernard Shaw Scholarship. His career as a performer began on stage with roles in UK productions of Bouncers (1983), A Woman of No Importance (1984), and La Vie Parisienne (1985). In 1990, he debuted at the Royal National Theatre, acting opposite Ian McKellen in Bent. Rhys earned a nomination for an Olivier Award for his permanence as Edgar in a 1997 run of King Lear and won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for his role as Angelo in a 2004 rendition of Measure for Measure. To date, Rhys has performed in 18 plays.
His varied television and film résumé includes over 70 credits, including Tumbledown (1988), Vincent & Theo (1990), Chaplin (1992), Rebecca’s Daughters (1992), Da Vinci’s Demons (2013–2015), Agatha Christie’s Poirot (2014), Turn: Washington’s Spies (2014–2017), Victoria (2016–2019), Saltburn (2023), Napoleon (2023), and Men Up (2023).
In addition, he has also performed in over a hundred BBC radio dramas, including The Saint (1995), The Idiot (2002), Charles and Mary (2011), The Rivals (2011–2013), and 16 Sherlock Holmes productions.
Rhys had a seven-year relationship with the Australian actress Arkie Whiteley, whom he acted alongside in the BBC miniseries Gallowglass (1993). When she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Rhys nursed her until she died in 2001.
Rhys is openly bi and a vocal campaigner for LGBT rights.
In a 2023 interview with Pink News, he spoke about playing a gay character in Men Up.
All of the prejudice I experienced, all of my own internalized homophobia, [it] was given a place to come out and be seen. It came straight from my heart. There wasn’t anything I had to push for, it was all there.