EXCLUSIVE!!!!

 

PAUL ANDERSON

 

Paul Anderson, born on February 12, 1978, in Kennington, South London, played the role of Bex in the film ‘The Firm’ in 2009. In 2011, he appeared as Sergeant Frank Nash in the miniseries ‘The Promise’. In 2012, Paul played the roles of Piggy in the film ‘Piggy’ and Francis Allen in the film ‘The Sweeney’. From 2013, he appeared for six seasons as Arthur Shelby in the TV series “Peaky Blinders”. In the same year, he also appeared as Gordon Goody in the miniseries ‘The Great Train Robbery’. In 2014, Paul appeared as Sergeant Leslie Lewis in the film ‘71’ and as Barry O’Connor in the film ‘Electricity’. In 2017, he played the role of Jim Morrow in the film ’24 Hours to Live’. In 2018, Paul could be seen as Guy of Gisborne in the film ‘Robin Hood’ and played the title role of Tartuffe in the stage play of the same name. In 2019, he appeared as Andrew Wilde in the film ‘Feedback’ and as Nick in the film ‘Tijuana Bible’. In 2021, Paul provided the voice for the character Prince Louis of Cambridge for the animated series “The Prince”. In 2024, he played the role of Stokely Reeves for a season in the TV series “The Gray House”. In 2026, Paul played the role of Arnold in the film ‘Bodily Harm’. Between 2011 and 2024, he also had roles in the films 'A Lonely Place to Die', 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows', 'Passion', 'Still Life', 'Legend', 'In the Heart of the Sea', 'The Revenant', 'Brimstone', 'Hostiles', 'Nightmare Alley' and 'Lift'. Paul contributed to the short TV film ‘Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me’ and the short films ‘The Basement’ and ‘Chandide’. He had guest roles in TV series such as “Doctor Who” from 2005, “Silent Witness”, “Lewis”, “Ashes to Ashes”, “Midsomer Murders”, and “Top Boy”. Perry spoke with Paul Anderson for an interview for the website.

 

001.Can you explain how your love for acting originated?

        London is a huge part of who I am. It shaped my sense of humor, my energy, and the way I see people. There are charaters in London,and I think

        growing up around that naturally fed into becoming an actor.

002.How do you look back on your work for the theater?

       Theatre was incredibly important in shaping me as an actor. One of the productions that stands out is Tartuffe from 2018, in which I played the role of

       Tartuffe. It was a briljant role because he is such a complex and contradictory character. He can be charming, manipulative, theatrical, and

       dangerous, often all at once. Playing him required a completely different energy from screen work. On stage, you have to sustain throughout the

       entire performance and connect directly with the audience in the room. Theatre gives you discipline, freedom, and a certain fearlessness as an actor.

       There is nowhere to hide, and that is what makes it so exciting.

003.You act in TV series (“Peaky Blinders” from 2013), films (’24 Hours to Live’ from 2017), and perform in plays (Tartuffe from 2018). If you had

        to choose one of all  your activities that you enjoy the most, what would it be?

       That is difficult, because television, film, and theater all give you something completely different. Theater gives you the adrenaline of being in the

       room with a live audience. Every performance has its own energy, and there is nowhere to hide. Television gives you time to build a character over a

       much longer period. With Arthur Shelby in “Peaky Blinders”, for example, I had years to explore his strengths, his damage, his humor, and all his

       contradictions. Film has a different scale and intensity. You may only have a short time to tell the character's entire story, so every look, movement,

       and decision matters. Ultimately, acting is what I love. The medium changes, but the challenge is always the same: make the character truthful and

       make the audience feels something.

004.How do you look back on the TV series “Peaky Blinders” from 2013?

       With enormous pride. The TV series “Peaky Blinders” changed my life. None of us could have predicted what the series would become when we first

       began. It grew into something that connected with audience all over the world, and Arthur Shelby became a character people felt a strongly about.

       Arthur could be terrifying, heartbreaking, loyal, funny, and completely unpredictable, sometimes all within the same scene. As an actor, that was an

       extraordinary gift, because I was never asked to play just one note. I am also proud that beneath the violence and bravado, audience understood that

       Arthur was a deeply wounded man. He loved his family completely, but he often did not know how to live with himself.

005.Can you name both a similarity and a major difference between yourself and Arthur Shelby from “Peaky Blinders”?

       A similarity between Arthur and myself is probably loyalty. When I care about someone, I care deeply about them, and I think Arthur is the same. His

       family is everything to him. The biggest difference is how Arthur deals with his emotions. Arthur often explodes. He acts first and deals wih the

       consequencs afterwards. I would like to think I am considerably calmer and more measured than he is. Playing him was intense, exhausting, and

       exhilarating. I will always be grateful for that role.

006.At which moment in your career are you most proud and/or do you have the best memories so far?

       I am proud of many moments, but taking Arthur Shelby from the page and building him into a character for the TV series “Peaky Blinders” who meant

       so much to audiences is certainly one of the greatest privileges of my career. What stays with me most is not simply the success of the show. It is the

       emotional response from people. I have met viewers who connected with Arthur’s struggles, his loyalty, his pain, and his attempts to keep going even

       when he was fallin apart. When a character becomes real to people, that is the greatest compliment an actor can receive. I am also proud that I have

       continued to push myself into very different worlds and haracters. I never want to repeat the same performance. The goal is always to take a risk and

       show another side of myself.

007.Over the years, you have worked with quite a few people. However, who has made the biggest impression on you?

       I have been fortunate to work with some extraordinary people. Cillian Murphy made an enormous impression on me. I worked with Cillian not only for

       six seasons on the TV series “Peaky Blinders”, but also in 2015 on the film ‘In the Heart of the Sea’, in which Cillian appeared as Matthew Joy and I

       played Caleb Chappel. Cillian is incredibly focused, generous, and precise. He leads through the quality of his work rather than making a great noise

       about it. Working opposite someone that committed raises your own game. I have also worked with brilliant directors and actors who bring completely

       different methods to the set. You learn something from everyone, whether it is discipline, preparation, courage, or simply how to remain relaxed when

       the pressure is high. I would never publicly single someone out as unfriendly. Film sets are intense environments. People can be under pressure,

       tired, or completely absorbed in their work, and that can sometimes be misunderstood. Marlon Brando has always been one of my idols. There

       was something instinctive, dangerous, and completely alive about his work. He never appeared to be showing you a performance. It felt as though

       the character was simply happening in front of you. That kind of truth is what every actor searches for. Marlon Brando could be powerful without

       forcing anything, and he was never afraid of silence, vulnerability, and contradiction. He changed what screen acting could be. Just like Marlon

       Brando, I also often play tormented "tough guys”. Marlon Brando on the silver screen in the 50s and 70s, and myself more in modern costume

       dramas. There are many people I would like to work with, particularly filmmakers who create strong, atmospheric worlds and complicated characters.

       Those are the environments where  I feel most alive as an actor.

008.In 2018, you appeared in the film ‘Robin Hood’. What was your personal connection to the story of Robin Hood?

      Robin Hood is one of those stories that feels as though it has always existed. You grow up knowing the names, the imagery, and the mythology, even

      before you fully understand the story. What interested  me to my role as Guy of Gisborne was the opportunity to play someone who was dangerous,

      but not simply evil for the sake of being evil. The most interesting villains believe they are justified. They have ambition, frustration, pride, and their

      own understanding of how the world should work. Guy had presence and authority, but I wanted there to be something human underneath that

      armour. Playing those contradictions is always much more enjoyable than playing a straightforward bad man. I also loved the physical and the scale of

      the production. When you step onto those sets and into those costumes, you immediately enter another world.

009.Can you tell us what kind of person your character is that you will be playing in the upcoming film ‘Fortitude’?

      The film ‘Fortitude’ is a remarkable story about World War II, about deception, intelligence, and the extraordinary lengts people went to in orde to

      defeat Nazi Germany. What fascinated me is that the weapons in this story are not only guns and armies. They are imagination, misinformation,

      performance and psychological strategy. People had to create an entire believable fiction the enemy that it was real. I cannot reveal too much about

      my character, but he is a man shaped by the pressure and danger of that world. He operates in a situation where trust is complicated, information is

      powerful, and one mistake can have enormous consequences. That tension is very exciting to play, because so much is happening beneath the

      surface. Working with Ed Skrein again was briljant. We first worked together in 2012 on the film ‘Piggy’, and a great deal of life and work has

      happened in our lives and work since then. There is something special about reconnectng with an actor years later. You already have a degree of trust

      and familiarity, but you also get to discover how both of you have both evolved. Ed brings real commitment and energy to his work, and it was a

      pleasure to share the screen with him again. The cast of the film ‘Fortitude’ is exceptional, and working with people such as Nicolas Cage, Ben

      Kingsley, and director Simon West made the experience particularly exciting.

010.What can we expect from you in the future in the world of show business?

        A lot, hopefully. I feel incredibly hungy creatively at the moment. I want to take on characters that challenge me, frighten me slightly and push me into

        territory audiences may not expect from me. I recently returned from filming in Egypt with the brilliant director Stephen Hopkins (director of films like

        ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 5’,‘Predator 2’, and ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’) on a new international production TV series "Al Amir". The drama is a

        six-part action series that presents itself as an action-packed political thriller. I play a truly horrific terrorist, so he is certainly not someone the

        audiences are going to find easy to like. He is dark, dangerous, and deeply unpleasant, but those roles can be fascinating to explore as an actor.

        Your job is not to judge the character or make excuses for him. You have to understand how he thinks, what drives him, and why he believes in what

        he is doing, however disturbing that may. Filming in Cairo was an extraordinary experience. Egypt has incredible energy, history, and atmosphere,

        and that really fed into the world of the production. Working with Stephen Hopkins was fantastic. He has enormous experience, a very clear vision,

        and knows exactly how to create tension, scale and intensity on screen. The TV series “Al Amir” is expected to be released in 2027. I am also

        extremly excited about the film ‘Fortitude’. It is an ambitious story about World War II with an exceptional cast, and it gave me another oppurtunity to

        step into a completely different world and character.

 

Photographer: Eric Richmond

 

Interview: Perry Krootjes