Paul Hilton (actor)

For other people with the same name, see Paul Hilton.

Paul Hilton (born 1970) is an English actor on stage, radio, and TV. He is an alumnus of the Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Paul Hilton
Born	1970 (age 54–55) Oldham, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Alma mater	Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1997-present

Early life

Hilton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1970.^[1][2] He trained at the Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Career

Hilton's work ranges from radio drama, television series and features, as well as film and theatre.

Hilton starred as William Palmer in the Pilgrim radio dramas on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play series and appeared in TV programmes including Garrow's Law (as freethinker Joseph Hamer), The Bill, Silent Witness, Wire in the Blood, Midsomer Murders (in the episode "The Oblong Murders"), Robin Hood, and has had regular character roles in True Dare Kiss (as Dennis Tyler) and Casualty 1909 (as Henry Percy Dean).

Hilton also appeared in the film Klimt and as Mr. Earnshaw Snr. in Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

In 2010, he appeared as Sandy in Mark Haddon's play Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse,^[3] and in 2011 played the title role in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare's Globe.^[4] In July 2015, he was part of the premiere cast of Damon Albarn's new musical Wonder.land at the Manchester International Festival.^[5] For director Rufus Norris he was The Boson in Lucy Kirkwood's Mosquitoes (2017) at London's National Theatre.^[6]

He played the character of The Fool in the Deep Time Walk Mobile Guide, produced in 2016/7 by Jeremy Mortimer.^{[citation needed]}

He appeared as Alexander, the husband of the protagonist Katherine (played by Florence Pugh) in the 2016 film Lady Macbeth, which transposed the action of the novel by Nikolai Leskov to the Northeast of England.

In 2017, he starred in the title role in a National Theatre Live production of Peter Pan.^[1]

He played the part of David Holmes in the television drama series A Very English Scandal, based upon John Preston's non-fiction book about the Thorpe affair.

In 2018, Hilton played E.M. Forster in the world premiere of Matthew Lopez's play The Inheritance at London's Young Vic, reprising his role in the West End and Broadway transfers. In 2020, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance, and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance.^[7]

In 2023 and 2024, he played Father Manders in Henrik Ibsen's play Ghosts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.^[8]

From September until November 2024, he starred as 'Joxer' Daly in Juno and the Paycock at the Gielgud Theatre.^[9]

Personal life

Hilton is married to English actress and ceramicist Anastasia Hille from Lambeth, London. They have one child and live in Sussex.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Klimt	Duke Octave
2010	Edge	Glen
2011	Wuthering Heights	Mr. Earnshaw
2012	Doctor Faustus	Dr. Faustus
2015	London Road	Tim
	Swansong	Mark Prince
2016	Lady Macbeth	Alexander Lester
2019	Eternal Beauty	Tony
2021	Earwig	Albert Scellinc

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	The Bill	John Palmer	Episode: "Added Bonus"
2004	Silent Witness	William Gould	2 episodes
	The Last Dragon	Dr. Tanner	Docufiction
2005	Wire in the Blood	Lawrence James	Episode: "Bad Seed"
	Princes in the Tower	King Henry VII	Television film
2006	The Family Man	Philip Dickson	Television film
2007	Trial & Retribution	Lee Casper	2 episodes
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Oliver Taylor	2 episodes
	True Dare Kiss	Dennis Tyler	6 episodes
	The Relief of Belsen	Leslie Hardman	Television film
2008	Heist	Adam de Warefield	Television film
2009	Robin Hood	Sir Roger	Episode: "Bad Blood"
	Casualty 1909	Henry Percy Dean	Main role; 6 episodes
	Garrow's Law	Joseph Hamer	Episode #1.4
2011	The Sinking of the Laconia	Henry Bates	Miniseries; 2 episodes
	Silk	Gary Rush	4 episodes
	Twenty Twelve	Jason Topper	Episode: "Raising The Bar"
	Midsomer Murders	Dominic Segal	Episode: "The Oblong Murders"
2012	Room at the Top	Bob Storr	2 episodes
	Labyrinth	Francois	Miniseries; 2 episodes
2013	Case Histories	Fergus Banks	Episode: "Jackson and the Women"
2014	The Crimson Field	Pte. Greville Parry	Episode #1.6
	The Driver	Blake	Episode #1.3
	Grantchester	Robert Miller	Episode #1.6
2018	Moving On	Ben	Episode: "Invisible"
	A Very English Scandal	David Holmes	2 episodes
2019	The Crown	Michael Straight	Episode: "Olding"
2022	Slow Horses	Robert Hobden	4 episodes
2023	All Creatures Great and Small	Clifford Slavens	Episode: "Broodiness"
2025	A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story	Christmas Humphreys	Episode #2

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2020	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Play	The Inheritance	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play		Won
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated

See also

• List of British actors