Paterson Joseph

 ( 1964 Births ) 

Joseph worked briefly as a catering assistant at a hospital, before deciding to pursue acting as a profession. He first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London (South Kensington Library), from 1983 to 1985 with Robert Henderson. He later attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), before going on to perform for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Royal National Theatre.

Joseph's theatre credits include the title role in Othello at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, as well as parts in Henry IV, King Lear, and Hamlet for a performance in New York City. In 2012, he played Brutus in a performance by the RSC of Julius Caesar set in Africa. In 2004, he undertook a project, filmed for Channel 4 in a documentary entitled My Shakespeare, to direct a version of Romeo & Juliet, using 20 young non-actors from the deprived Harlesden area of London.

In 2006, he became a patron of OffWestEnd.com, a listings site for theatre outside the mainstream. Other stage appearances in 2006 and 2007 include the leads in The Royal Hunt of the Sun and The Emperor Jones at the Olivier Theatre, London. In 2015, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance, a solo play written and performed by Joseph and based on the life of Ignatius Sancho, was staged in Oxford and Birmingham, and toured in the US starting in October.

In late 2019 and early 2020, Joseph starred as Ebenezer Scrooge at the Old Vic Theatre in London in their production of A Christmas Carol.

Joseph also appeared in the acclaimed drama Sex Traffic (2004), in the 2005 TV version of Kwame Kwei-Armah's acclaimed play Elmina's Kitchen and in the Doctor Who episodes "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" as Rodrick, a contestant on a futuristic version of The Weakest Link game show. He has also appeared in various supporting roles in Dead Ringers. In 2006, he appeared in the television sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look, in which he played Simon, a contestant on the game show Numberwang.

In 2007, Joseph played Space Marshall Clarke in two series of the BBC sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, and was Benjamin Maddox in the BBC drama series Jekyll. Joseph also provided the voice of K.O. Joe in Chop Socky Chooks.

From 2008 to 2010, Joseph played Greg Preston in Survivors, the BBC remake of the 1970s science-fiction drama of the same name. Also in 2008, Joseph appeared as former hitman Patrick Finch in Series 1, Episode 5 of The Fixer.

Joseph played DI Wes Layton in from 2013 to 2014.

He played the messianic "Holy Wayne" Gilchrest on the original HBO dramatic series The Leftovers, which began airing in 2014, and General Arnold Gaines on You, Me and the Apocalypse.

He took up the main role of Connor Mason in the television series Timeless, which ended in 2018.

In 2020, Joseph played the part of Home Secretary Kamal Hadley in the series of Noughts + Crosses.

As voice actor, Joseph provided the narration for the National Geographic series Mega Cities from 2005 to 2011, Wild Russia in 2009 and the BBC Two documentary Inside Obama's White House in 2016. He played Tyler in the BBC Switch film Rules of Love in 2010.

In 2000, Joseph appeared as Keaty in Danny Boyle's adventure drama film The Beach, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio. In the same year, he also appeared in The Long Run and Greenfingers.

In 2005, he portrayed Giroux in the science-fiction action film Æon Flux, which starred Charlize Theron. Then in 2008 he played a supporting role in The Other Man, opposite Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas.

Joseph appears as villain Arthur Slugworth, part of an ensemble cast in the 2023 musical fantasy film Wonka, directed by Paul King.

Joseph has also appeared in several short films, including Stop the World, directed by Richard Leaf. He voice acting the character of Victor in the 2023 drama short film Bet Your Bottom Dollar produced by British-Canadian filmmaker Jonathan Tammuz.

Joseph read the BBC Radio 4 10-part abridgement (by Florence Bedell) of Barbadian writer George Lamming's 1953 debut novel In the Castle of My Skin, first broadcast in December 2020.

• Jack Grove, "Interview with Paterson Joseph", Times Higher Education, 11 May 2023.