---
name: "Paul Chahidi"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-chahidi"
fi1m_id: "paul-chahidi"
imdb_id: "nm0149628"
tmdb_id: 75074
wikidata_id: "Q17174794"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "22 August 1969"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 12
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 12
updated: "2026-10-05T14:46:18.455611+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Paul Chahidi

## Identity

Paul Chahidi

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/paul-chahidi
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** paul-chahidi
- **IMDb ID:** nm0149628
- **TMDB ID:** 75074
- **Wikidata ID:** Q17174794
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chahidi, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17174794, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149628/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/75074

Actor. Born 22 August 1969 in Iran.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 22 August 1969, Iran
- **Active:** 1999–present
- **Also known as:** Giv Paul Khatib-Chahidi, Paul Giv Khatib-Chahidi
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as actor, over 12 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 78 (1), 2000s 64 (2), 2010s 76 (5), 2020s 70 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 72 to 71 across 12 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 8 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 8, Drama 8, Crime 4, Mystery 4, Romance 3, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 14 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $646m across 6 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chahidi, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17174794, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149628/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/75074

## Coming up

- *Elsinore* (2026-11-20), as Ralph — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*The Death of Stalin*](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-stalin.md) (83)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Night Manager*](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md) (81)
- **Disney+:** [*Wicked Little Letters*](https://film.one/film/wicked-little-letters.md) (61)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Paul Chahidi

> Paul Chahidi is worth watching for the warmth and comic timing he brings to supporting parts. We prefer his kindly vicar in *This Country* to the bully he is given in *Wicked Little Letters*.

In *Wicked Little Letters* (2024), Paul Chahidi’s Constable Spedding is a bully who outranks Anjana Vasan’s Gladys Moss. Hugh Skinner’s Constable Papperwick outranks her too, despite being a fool. We were irritated on Moss’s behalf: she is doing the thinking while these two retain the authority. Chahidi has the less rewarding job here, giving Vasan something to push against rather than having the comic centre of the scene to himself. He is useful to Thea Sharrock’s film, but it is a narrow use of him.

The warmer comic actor is there in *This Country* (2017–2020), as the kindly Rev. Francis Seaton. Chahidi’s grounded supporting work gives us a reason to care about someone who is not driving the story, rather than simply waiting for the next joke. We rate that ability to make a decent man worth watching; beside Spedding, Seaton is a reminder that Chahidi need not play the person everyone else would prefer to avoid.

His theatre work helps explain the comic assurance. In the 2013 all-male production of *Twelfth Night* at Shakespeare’s Globe and on Broadway, he played Maria opposite Mark Rylance, drawing on the classical technique developed through his work at the Globe and the RSC. His screen career reaches back to supporting parts in the late 1990s and includes Nikolai Bulganin in Armando Iannucci’s *The Death of Stalin* (2017). That is a career built substantially around working with other actors, and his warmth and timing are useful qualities in an ensemble.

In *Wicked Little Letters*, the limitation is partly the writing. Sharrock has a strong cast, but the swearing wears thin and the mystery is too easy; Chahidi’s contribution cannot mend those larger faults. Ben Davis shoots the police station in weak-tea colours, which suit the dispiriting treatment Moss receives there. We would welcome more parts that let Chahidi be as interesting as the people he supports. Start with *This Country* if Spedding is all you have seen of him.

## Biography

Paul Chahidi is an Iranian-born British actor. Born Giv Paul Khatib-Chahidi on 22 August 1969 in Iran, he was raised in the United Kingdom after his family left during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He studied Arabic and Persian at Trinity College, Cambridge, before training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Chahidi is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He received Tony and Olivier award nominations, and won a Theatre World Award and Clarence Derwent Award, for playing Maria in the all-male production of *Twelfth Night* (2013). His screen credits include *Notting Hill* (1999), *The Death of Stalin* (2017) as Nicolai Bulganin, *This Country* (2017–2020) as Reverend Francis Seaton, *Good Omens* (2019) as Sandalphon, *See How They Run* (2022), *Wicked Little Letters* (2024) as Constable Spedding, and *The Night Manager* (2026) as Basil Karapetian.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (12)

- *Elsinore* (2026), Fi1m 74, as Ralph — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)
- *Ludwig* (2024), Fi1m 76, as Adrian Tate — [page](https://film.one/tv/ludwig.md)
- *Wicked Little Letters* (2024), Fi1m 61, as Constable Spedding — [page](https://film.one/film/wicked-little-letters.md)
- *See How They Run* (2022), Fi1m 70, as Fellowes — [page](https://film.one/film/see-how-they-run.md)
- *Christopher Robin* (2018), Fi1m 62, as Cecil Hungerford — [page](https://film.one/film/christopher-robin.md)
- *The Death of Stalin* (2017), Fi1m 83, as Nicolai Bulganin — [page](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-stalin.md)
- *This Country* (2017), Fi1m 86, as Reverend Francis Seaton — [page](https://film.one/tv/this-country.md)
- *The Night Manager* (2016), Fi1m 81, as Basil Karapetian — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md)
- *The Hour* (2011), Fi1m 70, as Ron — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-hour.md)
- *Venus* (2006), Fi1m 72, as Period Film Director — [page](https://film.one/film/venus.md)
- *The Libertine* (2004), Fi1m 56, as Barrillon — [page](https://film.one/film/the-libertine.md)
- *Notting Hill* (1999), Fi1m 78, as Loud Man in Restaurant — [page](https://film.one/film/notting-hill.md)

## Complete filmography (48)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Elsinore* (2026), as Ralph — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)
- *National Theatre Live: The Misanthrope* (2026), as John
- *The Witness* (2026), series, as Professor Paul Britton
- *Ladies First* (2026), as Harry
- *PONIES* (2026), series, as Alan Salek
- *The Gay Collection | Volume I | Presented by Shortz!* (2025), Actor
- *Mango* (2025), as Dr. Pellman/Dr Stewart/Dr Gough
- *Ludwig* (2024), series, as Adrian Tate — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/ludwig.md)
- *The Cost of Hugging* (2024), as Raymond
- *Wicked Little Letters* (2024), as Constable Spedding — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/wicked-little-letters.md)
- *Good Boy* (2023), as Doctor
- *National Theatre Live: Phaedra* (2023), as Hugo
- *The Serpent Queen* (2022), series, as Charles de Bourbon
- *See How They Run* (2022), as Fellowes — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/see-how-they-run.md)
- *The Other Half* (2022), series, as Farhad
- *Too Close* (2021), series, as Phil Cook
- *Chad* (2021), series, as Hamid
- *FX's A Christmas Carol* (2019), as Spirit / Business Man
- *Good Omens* (2019), series, as Sandalphon
- *Christopher Robin* (2018), as Cecil Hungerford — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/christopher-robin.md)
- *The Death of Stalin* (2017), as Nicolai Bulganin — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/the-death-of-stalin.md)
- *Love Is Thicker Than Water* (2017), as Concierge
- *National Theatre Live: Salomé* (2017), as Herod
- *This Country* (2017), series, as Reverend Francis Seaton — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/this-country.md)
- *Boyka: Undisputed IV* (2016), as Kiril
- *National Theatre Live: As You Like It* (2016), as Jaques
- *The Night Manager* (2016), series, as Basil Karapetian — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md)
- *Bunny and Clive* (2016), as Cargo
- *And Then There Were None* (2015), series, as Isaac Morris
- *The Vote* (2015), as Howard Roberts
- *The Voices* (2014), as Dennis Kowalski
- *Twelfth Night* (2012), as Maria
- *The Hour* (2011), series, as Ron — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-hour.md)
- *National Theatre Live: Nation* (2010), as Cox
- *The Day of the Triffids* (2009), series, as Vronsky
- *Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story* (2008), as Sir Barnett Cocks
- *Oliver Twist* (2007), series, as The Quack
- *Fear of Fanny* (2006), as Director
- *Venus* (2006), as Period Film Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/venus.md)
- *The Libertine* (2004), as Barrillon — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/the-libertine.md)
- *Hustle* (2004), series, as Tamir Abu-Alsaud
- *Murder in Mind* (2001), series, as Mike Stott
- *Notting Hill* (1999), as Loud Man in Restaurant — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/notting-hill.md)
- *Stella Does Tricks* (1997), as Chris
- *Midsomer Murders* (1997), series, as Gabriel Arnson — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/tv/midsomer-murders.md)
- *Peak Practice* (1993), series, as Pharmacist
- *Murder Most Horrid* (1991), series, as Hitman
- *The Stork*, as Ian

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- Theatre World Award 2014: Theatre World Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play 2014: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (nominated)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/paul-chahidi