--- name: "Paul Rhys" canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-rhys" fi1m_id: "paul-rhys" imdb_id: "nm0722631" tmdb_id: 80365 wikidata_id: "Q979114" roles: ["Actor"] born: "19 December 1963" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 67 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-07T13:48:53.043338+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 Rhys ## Identity Paul Rhys - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/paul-rhys - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** paul-rhys - **IMDb ID:** nm0722631 - **TMDB ID:** 80365 - **Wikidata ID:** Q979114 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rhys, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q979114, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722631/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/80365 Actor. Born 19 December 1963 in Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 19 December 1963, Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK - **Active:** 1988–present - **Average Fi1m score:** 67, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 73 (1), 2010s 72 (1), 2020s 62 (2) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 65 to 66 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 4, Comedy 2, Thriller 2, Crime 1, History 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $243m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rhys, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q979114, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722631/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/80365 ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*Napoleon*](https://film.one/film/napoleon.md) (63) - **Hulu:** [*Saltburn*](https://film.one/film/saltburn.md) (60) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Paul Rhys > Paul Rhys is the man at the edge of the frame who has decided how the scene ends. Nearly four decades of courtiers, vampires and politicians, most of it good, little of it given room. *The Deal* shows what he does when it is. In *The Deal* (2003), Paul Rhys's Peter Mandelson is barely on screen. He appears at a door, says something quiet to Tony Blair, and is gone before Blair, or we, have worked out what was offered. He does not raise his voice and he hardly moves. We found those few scenes the coldest in a film full of warm, loud men, and we meant it as praise; Stephen Frears gives him a handful of minutes and he spends them saying less than anyone else in the film. That has been the Rhys method for nearly forty years. He was on screen as a student in *Absolute Beginners* (1986), then opposite Colin Firth in Richard Eyre's Falklands drama *Tumbledown* (1988), then as Theo van Gogh to Tim Roth's Vincent in Robert Altman's *Vincent & Theo* (1990), and as Sydney Chaplin, another famous man's brother, in Richard Attenborough's *Chaplin* (1992). By the end of that decade he had gone back to the stage: Edgar in *King Lear* at the National in 1997, Angelo in *Measure for Measure* there in 2004. The screen work in between was mostly television, with the odd feature such as *From Hell* (2001), and television cast him again and again as the undead, in *Being Human*, *Da Vinci's Demons* and *A Discovery of Witches*. "I'm never my own class," he has said. "I'm very rarely human." Then two features in one year. In *Saltburn* (2023) he is Duncan, the butler at the big house, a part with hardly any lines, built out of how he stands in a doorway and how long he looks before he leaves it. It is a small part, small enough that our review did not find room for him, which is a fact about the film rather than about him. In *Napoleon* (2023) he is Talleyrand, one of the two men who make and unmake the Emperor, and the trouble is the cutting: Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo run the years as captions and postcards, and Talleyrand never gets a scene long enough to show how he does it. Rhys is exact in every one he gets. There are not enough of them. The reservation is the one that follows any actor with this much theatre in him. His performances are built, you can see the joinery, and in a modern-dress ensemble where everyone is talking over everyone else it can look like a man holding a pose; the complaint has been made of his stage work, at the Almeida in *Uncle Vanya* in 2016. On screen it is more often the point. Rhys plays people who settled what they think before the scene began, and that stillness reads either as power or as something not quite alive, which is why directors keep handing him the aristocrat and the vampire. Emerald Fennell has used him twice and Richard Eyre twice. Somebody should now give him a film in which he is allowed to stay past the doorway. ## Biography Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh actor. He was born in Neath and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a Bernard Shaw Scholarship, winning the William Pole prize and the Bancroft Gold Medal. His film roles include Dean Swift in *Absolute Beginners* (1986), Theo van Gogh in *Vincent & Theo* (1990), Sydney Chaplin in *Chaplin* (1992) and Dr Ferral in *From Hell* (2001). He has also appeared in television series such as *Luther* (2010) and *A Discovery of Witches* (2018). Rhys played Talleyrand in Ridley Scott’s *Napoleon* (2023) and Duncan in Emerald Fennell’s *Saltburn* (2023). He is scheduled to appear as Heathcliff’s father in *Wuthering Heights* (2026). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Napoleon* (2023), Fi1m 63, as Talleyrand — [page](https://film.one/film/napoleon.md) - *Saltburn* (2023), Fi1m 60, as Duncan — [page](https://film.one/film/saltburn.md) - *Luther* (2010), Fi1m 72, as Lucien Burgess — [page](https://film.one/tv/luther.md) - *The Deal* (2003), Fi1m 73, as Peter Mandelson — [page](https://film.one/film/the-deal.md) ## Complete filmography (72) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Madfabulous* (2026), as Lord Penrhyn - *Tip Toe* (2026), series, as Melba - *“Wuthering Heights”* (2026), as Heathcliff's Father — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/wuthering-heights-2026.md) - *Men Up* (2024), as Tommy Cadogan - *Widow Clicquot* (2024), as Droite - *The Way* (2024), series, as Akela - *Napoleon* (2023), as Talleyrand — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/napoleon.md) - *Saltburn* (2023), as Duncan — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/saltburn.md) - *The Sandman* (2022), series, as Hippogriff (voice) - *A Discovery of Witches* (2018), series, as Andrew Hubbard, Father Hubbard - *Lore* (2017), series, as Philip Smith - *Rellik* (2017), series, as Patrick Barker - *Victoria* (2016), series, as Sir John Conroy - *Casanova* (2015), series, as Comte De St Germain - *Casanova* (2015), as Comte De St Germain - *The Assets* (2014), series, as Aldrich Ames - *Great Expectations* (2011), series, as Compeyson, Denby, Compeyson/Denby - *Borgia* (2011), series, Actor - *Eliminate: Archie Cookson* (2011), as Archie Cookson - *When Harvey Met Bob* (2010), as Paul McCartney - *Luther* (2010), series, as Lucien Burgess — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/luther.md) - *The Queen* (2009), series, Actor - *Moving On* (2009), series, as Andy - *Being Human* (2009), series, as Ivan - *Bonekickers* (2008), series, Actor - *Murdoch Mysteries* (2008), series, as Dr. Llewllyn Francis - *Unknown Things* (2007), as Hoogstraten - *The Ten Commandments* (2006), series, as Ramses - *Hellraiser: Deader* (2005), as Winter - *Beethoven* (2005), series, as Ludwig van Beethoven - *Murder in Rome* (2005), as Cicero - *This World* (2004), series, Actor - *New Tricks* (2004), series, as Sebastian Carter - *The Deal* (2003), as Peter Mandelson — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/the-deal.md) - *Otherworld* (2003), as Lord Pwyll (voice) - *Spooks* (2002), series, as Alexis Meynell — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md) - *Food of Love* (2002), as Richard Kennington - *The Cazalets* (2001), series, as Rupert Cazalet - *Murder in Mind* (2001), series, as Matthew Hopkins - *From Hell* (2001), as Dr. Ferral - *The Innocent* (2001), as David Pastorov - *Anna Karenina* (2000), series, as Nikolai - *Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)* (2000), series, Actor - *Love Lies Bleeding* (1999), as Jonathan - *The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka* (1999), as Chopin - *King Lear* (1998), as Edgar - *A Dance to the Music of Time* (1997), series, as Charles Stringham - *The Haunting of Helen Walker* (1995), as Edward Goffe - *Nina Takes a Lover* (1995), as Photographer - *Ghosts* (1995), series, as Captain Peter Buckle - *The Last Machine* (1995), series, Actor - *Kavanagh Q.C.* (1995), series, as Sam Wicks - *The Healer* (1994), as Dr. John Lassiter - *Gallowglass* (1993), series, as Sandor · Casting - *Chaplin* (1992), as Sydney Chaplin - *Rebecca's Daughters* (1992), as Anthony Raine - *Becoming Colette* (1991), as Chapo - *Performance* (1991), series, as Edgar, Christopher - *Vincent & Theo* (1990), as Theodore 'Theo' Van Gogh - *102 Boulevard Haussmann* (1990), as Amable Massis - *Vincent & Theo* (1990), series, as Theo Van Gogh - *Chillers* (1990), series, as Adam Marshall - *Agatha Christie's Poirot* (1989), series, as Robin Upward — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/agatha-christies-poirot.md) - *Tumbledown* (1988), as Hugh MacKessac - *The Heroes* (1988), as Ivan Lyon - *My Family and Other Animals* (1987), series, as George - *Lionheart* (1987), as Mayor of the Underground City - *The Spirit* (1987), Actor - *Sunday Premiere* (1986), series, as Hugh MacKessac - *Absolute Beginners* (1986), as Dean Swift - *Timewatch* (1982), series, as Cicero - *The Lives of Animals*, as John --- © 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-rhys