Paapa Essiedu

Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (; born 11 June 1990) is a British actor. He started his career in 2012 when he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, acting in numerous production including The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet (2016), and King Lear (2016). He has won an Independent Spirit Award and a Laurence Olivier Award and has been nominated for numerous other accolades such as a nominations for a British Academy Television Award, a Dorian Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

His screen breakthrough came in 2020 with his role in BBC One's I May Destroy You, earning nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award. He portrayed George Boleyn in the Channel 5 historical drama Anne Boleyn in 2021, and had starring roles in the AMC+ action series Gangs of London (2020–2022), the science fiction series The Lazarus Project (2020–2023), and Black Mirror: Demon 79 (2023).

Essiedu made his feature film acting debut as a policeman in Kenneth Branagh's mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (2017). He took roles in the horror film Men (2022), the fantasy film Genie (2023), and the drama The Outrun (2024). He gained acclaim for his stage roles in Caryl Churchill's play A Number (2022), and Lucy Prebble's play The Effect (2023–2024).

Early life and education Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu was born on 11 June 1990 at Guy's Hospital in Southwark, London, to Ghanaian parents, was brought up in Walthamstow, East London by his mother, a fashion and design teacher. His father Tony had returned to Ghana, where Essiedu has a half-brother and sister, and died when Essiedu was 14 years old.

Essiedu attended Forest School on a scholarship. Active in sports teams and theatrical productions growing up, he initially wanted to be a doctor. Essiedu developed an interest in Shakespeare, having been encouraged to act by his A level drama teacher at Forest, and was accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met and worked with Michaela Coel. He appeared in Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), You For Me For You (Royal Court).

In 2016, Essiedu starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Hamlet as the titular role and King Lear as Edmund. The judges described Essiedu's Hamlet as one the audience listened to "completely still", observing Essiedu's performance could turn on a sixpence – sweet, playful and flirtatious one minute, and fiercely intelligent the next. "Like all great actors", a judge commented, he "made all the lines his own". His Edmund in King Lear was reported to convey a chilling contempt and cynicism. and in the BBC Radio 4 drama Wide Open Spaces the same year, in which he played the role of a man determined to overcome his agoraphobia in order to keep his promise to visit his daughter's grave on the first anniversary of her death.

Essiedu began his television career with roles as Demetrius in Russell T Davies' television film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016), Otto in the period drama The Miniaturist (2017), Nate Akindele in the Channel 4's Kiri (2018), and Ed Washburn in the BBC One drama Press (2018). He made his feature film debut in a small role as a policeman in Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express (2017) an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.

In 2019 he acted in the Danai Gurira play The Convert starring alongside Letitia Wright at the Young Vic. Time Out praised both actors' performances.

2020–present From 2020 to 2022, Essiedu starred as Alex Dumani in the crime drama Gangs of London on Sky Atlantic. In 2020, Essiedu portrayed Kwame in the BBC One series I May Destroy You alongside Michaela Coel. For the latter, Essiedu received critical acclaim, a number of notable nominations, including for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. The cast won Best Ensemble at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards.

Essiedu then played George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford in the three-parter Anne Boleyn starring Jodie Turner-Smith for Channel 5 in 2021.

In 2022, Essiedu returned to the theatre, playing three separate roles in the Caryl Churchill play A Number at The Old Vic, with Lennie James. Nick Curtis of The Evening Standard praised his performance, writing "Paapa Essiedu gives a tour de force performance," adding "He's subtly, devastatingly different in speech, stance and attitude." That same year Essiedu began starring in the Sky Max science fiction time loop series The Lazarus Project for which he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination. He also appeared in Alex Garland's folk horror film Men (2022) and joined the cast of mystery thriller series The Capture on BBC One for its second series as Isaac Turner, Security Minister.

In 2023, he acted in the Black Mirror episode Demon 79 alongside Anjana Vasan. Jack King of GQ cited it as "the best Black Mirror episode in years", writing of "Essiedu's chameleonic acting abilities... not only showing himself to be one hell of a talent but one with exciting range."

He returned to the stage starring opposite Taylor Russell in the Jamie Lloyd directed revival of the Lucy Prebble play The Effect at the National Theatre in 2023 and at The Shed in 2024. He acted opposite Saoirse Ronan in the film The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

In 2025, Essiedu returned to the West End in Ivo van Hove's revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons at Wyndham's Theatre, alongside Bryan Cranston and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. For this, Essiedu won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Essiedu will portray Severus Snape in the HBO television adaptation of the Harry Potter books. Some fans have criticized the casting due to Essiedu not matching the physical description of Snape in the books.

Personal life Essiedu is married to actress and comedian Rosa Robson; they had been in a relationship for six years as of 2022.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2017 Murder on the Orient Express Sergeant Campbell 2022 Men James 2023 Genie Bernard Bottle 2024 The Outrun Daynin 2027 The Thomas Crown Affair The Scurry Post-production Tyrant Filming

Television Year Title Role Notes 2013 Utopia Roy 2 episodes 2015 Not Safe For Work Paul 1 episode 2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Demetrius Television film 2017 The Miniaturist Otto 3 episodes 2018 Kiri Nate Akindele 4 episodes Press Ed Washburn 6 episodes Black Earth Rising Jaalen Episode: "In Other News" 2020–2022 Gangs of London Alexander "Alex" Dumani 8 episodes 2020 I May Destroy You Kwame 12 episodes 2021 Anne Boleyn George Boleyn 3 episodes 2022–2023 The Lazarus Project George 16 episodes 2022–2026 The Capture Isaac Turner Main role (series 2 and 3) 2023 Black Mirror Gaap Episode: "Demon 79" 2024 Black Doves Elmore Fitch 2 episodes 2025 Black Mirror Unnamed player Episode: "USS Callister: Into Infinity" 2026 Babies Stephen 6 episodes Falling David Main cast 2026–present Harry Potter Severus Snape Main cast

Theatre Year Title Role Playwright Notes Ref. 2013 Black Jesus Gabriel Anders Lustgarten Finborough Theatre, London 2014 King Lear Burgundy William Shakespeare Olivier Theatre, National Theatre 2015 Romeo and Juliet Romeo Tobacco Factory, Bristol 2015 You For Me For You Wade Mia Chung Royal Court, London 2016, 2018 Hamlet HamletWilliam Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company Tour 2016 King Lear Edmund Barbican Theatre, West End 2017 Racing Demon Tony Ferris David Hare Theatre Royal, Bath 2018 Pinter One Various roles Harold Pinter Harold Pinter Theatre, West End 2019 The Convert Chilford Danai Gurira Young Vic, London 2020 Pass Over Moses Antoinette Nwandu Kiln Theatre, London 2022 A Number Michael / Bernard Caryl Churchill Old Vic Theatre 2023 The Effect Tristan Lucy Prebble National Theatre, London 2024The Shed, New York City Death of England: Delroy Delroy Clint Dyer and Roy Williams @sohoplace, London 2025 All My Sons Chris Keller Arthur Miller Wyndham's Theatre

Accolades