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Paul Ready

Actor

Paul Ready

Born June 23, 1977 in Birmingham, England, UK22 films

Paul John Ready (born 23 June 1977) is a British actor known for portraying Kevin Brady in Motherland (2016-2022), Lee in Utopia (2013–2014), Rob MacDonald in Bodyguard (2018), and Henry Goodsir in The Terror (2018). His film credits include The Death of Stalin (2017), The Dig (2021), Heart of Stone (2023), and Bring Them Down (2025). He is recognised for his ability to take on diverse roles and bring depth to his characters in different genres.

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Paul was born in Birmingham and, growing up in the town of Harborne, he attended King Edward VI Five Ways school. He went on to train at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and, at the age of 17, he played Romeo in the National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, playing opposite Rosamund Pike's Juliet.

He is a regular at the National and Royal Court theatres. Past appearances have included leading parts in Major Barbara and Saint Joan (both plays by George Bernard Shaw) and Time and the Conways by J.B. Priestley. His West End credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which starred Christian Slater. Ready is married to actress and writer Michelle Terry, whom he met in Shakespeare's Globe 2009 production of Love's Labour's Lost — they have one daughter. In 2018 he starred as the titular character in Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, opposite Terry as Lady Macbeth. In 2020, he and Terry returned to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as Petruchio and Biondello respectively in The Taming of the Shrew. In 2025, he starred in Chekhov's Three Sisters as Aleksandr Vershinin, once again alongside Terry.

Paul received a commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards in 2003.

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The best way into Paul Ready's work
The Death of Stalin posterFirst watchThe Death of Stalin20177.0as NKVD Officer DelovWhen dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach

Filmography

22 films as actor
  1. 2026National Theatre at Home: SummerfolkSergei Vassilich Bassov
  2. 2026All That GlittersShakespeare
  3. 2025Bring Them DownGary
  4. 2023Heart of StoneBailey
  5. 2023CaptureDad
  6. 2022Motherland: Last ChristmasKevin
  7. 2021The DigJames Reid Moir
  8. 2020MuseAderman
  9. 2017The Death of StalinNKVD Officer Delov
  10. 2016The CircuitDanny
  11. 2016Beside HimselfDevlin
  12. 2013One Wrong WordTony
  13. 2013UtopiaLee
  14. 2012Private PeacefulCaptain Wilkins
  15. 2010Love's Labour's Lost - Live at Shakespeare's GlobeDon Armado
  16. 2010National Theatre Live: London AssuranceCharles Courtly
  17. 2005Pierrepoint: The Last HangmanAnthony David Farrow
  18. 2002Jeffrey Archer: The TruthPaul McCartney
  19. 2002Plain JaneClerk
  20. 2001Princess of ThievesSheriff's servant
  21. 2000Maybe BabyStudent Doctor
  22. 1995Angels and InsectsTom