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.
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.
1989 • TV
1992 • TV
2018 • TV
2012 • TV
2017 • Movie
2023 • Movie
as NKVD Officer Delov
as Bailey
as Clerk
as James Reid Moir
as Gary
as Sheriff's servant
as Tom
as Aderman
as Shakespeare
as Student Doctor
as Anthony David Farrow
as Dad
as Kevin
as Captain Wilkins
as Danny
as Charles Courtly
as Paul McCartney
as Devlin
as Don Armado
as Tony
as William
1 episodes
as Henry Harrison
1 episodes
as Doctor Henry Goodsir
10 episodes
as Dr. Frederick Treves
1 episodes
as Frederick Treves
2 episodes
as Rob MacDonald
6 episodes
as Lee
6 episodes
as Tony Paddick
1 episodes
as Kevin
17 episodes
as Renter Alice
1 episodes
1 episodes
as Abel Marl
1 episodes
as Cooper
1 episodes
1 episodes
as Tripp
2 episodes
as Nick Caplan
7 episodes
as Damien Paulson
3 episodes
as Mark
1 episodes
as Soul
8 episodes
as Mike
1 episodes
