Paul Chahidi
{{short description|British actor|bot=PearBOT 5}}
Giv Paul Khatib-Chahidi{{cite web|url=https://kayhanlife.com/culture/film/shakespeare-stalin-actor-paul-chahidi-stars-film-stage/|title=From Shakespeare to Stalin: Actor Paul Chahidi Stars on Film and Stage|website=Kayhan Life|date=3 October 2016|access-date=26 November 2023}} (born 22 August 1969), known professionally as Paul Chahidi (Persian: پل شهیدی), is an Iranian-born British Theatre World Award and Clarence Derwent Award winning and Tony and Olivier award nominated actor.
Early life
Paul Chahidi was born in Iran to an Iranian father and a British mother. His parents met while they were students studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. Chahidi was raised in Iran until the family left during the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and settled in the United Kingdom. Chahidi grew up in Summertown, Oxford{{cite web|url=https://www.dragonschool.org/eminent_dragons/paul-chahidi/|title=Paul Chahidi|website=Dragon School|access-date=13 December 2023}} and attended the Dragon School and Winchester College, before enrolling at University of Cambridge where he studied Arabic and Persian and wished to become a foreign correspondent. After graduating from Cambridge, he attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Chahidi is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/people/2486#actor-name-tv |title=Welcome to the National Theatre }} He appeared at Shakespeare's Globe{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/treading-the-broads-189474.html?amp|title=Treading the broads|website=Independent.co.uk|date=11 January 2014|publisher=}} and on Broadway in all-male productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III.{{cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/paul-chahidi-steals-scenes-broadway-shows-article-1.1486715?outputType=amp|title=Paul Chahidi is set to steal scenes in two New York stage productions – NY Daily News|first=Joe|last=Dziemianowicz|website=New York Daily News|date=20 October 2013 |publisher=}} He was nominated for both an Olivier award and a Tony Award and won a Theatre World Award and Clarence Derwent Award for his portrayal of Maria in Twelfth Night, where he appeared alongside Mark Rylance's Olivia in 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatre.com/buzz/176655/paul-chahidi-on-hugh-jackmans-soft-hands-falling-head-over-heels-for-londons-shakespeare-in-love/?mobile=on|title=Paul Chahidi on Hugh Jackman's Soft Hands & Falling Head Over Heels for London's Shakespeare in Love – Broadway Buzz – Theatre.com|website=www.theatre.com}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27207920|title=Rylance gets Tony nomination double|work=BBC News|date=30 April 2014|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/fenella-woolgar-and-paul-chahidi-win-clarence-derwent-awards|title=Fenella Woolgar and Paul Chahidi win Clarence Derwent awards|website=The Stage|first=Matthew|last=Hemley|date=13 September 2013|access-date=13 December 2023}} He played defence minister Nikolai Bulganin in Armando Iannucci's 2017 historical comedy The Death of Stalin.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2017/10/18/news/armando-iannucci-s-the-death-of-stalin-a-dazzling-black-russian-comedy-1164279/|title=Armando Iannucci's The Death Of Stalin a dazzling black Russian comedy|website=The Irish News|date=18 October 2017}}
He had a recurring role in the BBC Three television comedy series This Country (2017–2020), in which he played the Rev. Francis Seaton, a vicar who tries to help the characters created and played by siblings Charlie Cooper and Daisy May Cooper.{{cite web|url=https://www.metro.co.uk/2018/03/08/country-star-paul-chahidi-characters-lot-underlying-pain-7356651/amp/|title=This Country star Paul Chahidi: All the characters have a lot of underlying pain|date=8 March 2018|publisher=}} For this role, he was nominated for the Royal Television Society Award for best Comedy Performance (Male).
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1996
|Chris | |
| 1999
|Loud Man in Restaurant | |
| 2004
|Barrillon | |
| 2006
|Period Film Director | |
| 2011-2012
|Ron | |
| 2014
|Dennis Kowalski | |
| 2015
|Isaac Morris | |
| rowspan="2" |2016
|Headmaster | |
| Boyka: Undisputed
|Kiril | |
| 2017
| |
| 2017–2020
|Rev. Francis Seaton | |
| 2018
|Cecil Hungerford | |
| 2019
|Sandalphon | |
| 2021
|Chad |Hamid Amani | |
| rowspan="2" |2022
|Fellowes | |
| The Serpent Queen
| |
| rowspan="2" |2023
|Chief Constable Spedding | |
| Good Boy
|Doctor Max |last=Goldbart |date=May 19, 2023 }} |
| 2024
| Ludwig | Adrian Tate | 1 episode |
Other work
Paul Chahidi has appeared on a number of popular podcasts, including The QuaranTea Break Podcast{{Cite web|title=The QuaranTea Break Podcast: Ep 4: Paul Chahidi – talking This Country ending, performing in online plays and the vicar's advice for lockdown on Apple Podcasts|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-4-paul-chahidi-talking-this-country-ending-performing/id1505219933?i=1000473493017|access-date=2020-06-30|website=Apple Podcasts|language=en-gb}} with Simon Ward, and Seven Stages{{Cite web|title=Seven Stages Podcast: Episode 7, Paul Chahidi|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-podcast/seven-stages-podcast-episode-7-paul-chahidi|access-date=2020-06-30|website=The Stage|language=En}} the podcast from The Stage.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chahidi, Paul}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Category:21st-century British male actors
Category:British male stage actors
Category:British male television actors
Category:People educated at The Dragon School
Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members
Category:British people of Iranian descent