Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (/ˈpɑːpə ˌɛsiˈeɪduː/; 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 (2012), 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). Description above from the Wikipedia article Paapa Essiedu, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• Babies — Stephen
• Falling — David
• Harry Potter — Severus Snape
• 2026National Theatre Live: All My Sons — Chris Keller
• 2025Laundreams — Danny
• 2025National Theatre Live: Death of England: Delroy — Delroy
• Black Doves — Elmore Fitch
• 2024National Theatre Live: The Effect — Tristan
• 2024The Outrun — Daynin
• 2023Genie — Bernard Bottle
• 2022Men — James
• The Lazarus Project — George Addo
• Anne Boleyn — George Boleyn
• 2021Femme — Jordan
• 2021The Exit Plan — Zeke
• Gangs of London — Alexander Dumani
• I May Destroy You — Kwame Acheamong
• Unsaid Stories — Michael
• 2019Stand Still — David
• The Capture — Isaac Turner MP
• Black Earth Rising — Jaalen
• Kiri — Nate Akindele
• Press — Ed Washburn
• 2018Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70 — Narrator
• 2017Canned — Charlie
• 2017Murder on the Orient Express — Young Policeman
• 2017The Miniaturist — Otto
• The Miniaturist — Otto
• 2016A Midsummer Night's Dream — Demetrius
• 2016RSC Live: Hamlet — Hamlet
• 2016RSC Live: King Lear — Edmund
• 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSC — Hamlet
• Not Safe for Work — Paul
• 2014National Theatre Live: King Lear — The Duke of Burgundy
• Utopia — Roy
• Black Mirror — Gaap
• Sweet Dreams — Billy
• The Scurry
• Tyrant

Appearances as themselves (4)

• 2026Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic — Self
• 2026The Name of Action — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• Glastonbury — Self