Paul Butterworth

May 12th 2013

Hi, I'm Paul Butterworth and I'm a film and TV actor with over 35 years experience in everything from The Full Monty to Frank, Michael Fassbender's latest film.

I'm an actor and half a single parent (Josh splits his time between me and his mum) based in the UK near London. Great for auditions but I miss my Yorkshire hills, limestone valleys and trout-filled rivers.

My son's seventeen now and growing up (he's filming in Jamaica with Usain Bolt as I write this!) so I'm reinvigorating my career... I didn't feel I could go away when he was little! I started Christmas 2012 with a new agent, a guest lead in Holby City, a TV hospital drama, and a small part in a film called Frank, starring Michael Fassbender - it's a lovely cameo as the hero's [Jon played by Domnhall Gleeson] father. I've just filmed a GIffGaff zombie commercial as their butcher!!!!

Dad was a vicar in a small rural/semi rural parish in the north of England. Mum trained as an actress at Alexandra Palace in the 30's but never performed professionally as she got married about the same time her first West End offers came in - vicars' wives didn't act. She started teaching speech and drama from home when I was eleven and I was her first pupil.

I completed a three year specialist speech and drama teaching course at the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1977, but went straight into children's/community theatre instead of teaching. My first TV was in 1978. I was very busy in film/TV in the 80's and early 90's in films like The Full Monty and comedy TV like My Family. In 1988 I got a BA in English and History from Leeds Metropolitan University.

My hobbies are film (I'm a voting BAFTA member and watch two or three films a week), painting (oil... I love the sensuousness of the paint - bright colours, abstract), cooking, singing (I've just joined a choir), gardening (I've had three allotments!) and walking (nothing to beat standing on top of a mountain in a gale to feel alive).

I'm currently studying American to native speaker standard via Skype with voice coach, Jon Sperry