Paul Higgins is a Scottish actor, best known for appearing in the British television series ''

The Thick of It ''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series created, written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially ...

'', ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'' and ''

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural and serial drama television programme created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It began broadcasting on BBC Two on 26 June 2012. ...

''.

Early life

Higgins was born in

Wishaw Wishaw (; ; ) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the River Clyde, Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency), Motherwell and Wishaw c ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, Scotland. He was raised as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, but now he considers himself a

lapsed Catholic A lapsed Catholic is a Catholic who is non-practicing. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic, and remains one according to Catholic canon law. Interpretations The ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' definition of "lapsed" in relation to "la ...

. As a teenager, he trained to be a priest, but gave his training up aged 17 when he began dating.

Career

Higgins has appeared onstage in ''

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

'' and ''

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

'', and in the film '' Complicity''. He played Alan in ''Staying Alive'', a hospital drama on ITV. He has also played Jamie McDonald, an aggressive press officer, in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show ''

'' and its spin-off feature-length film, ''

In the Loop ''In the Loop'' is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is a spin-off from Iannucci's television series '' The Thick of It'' (2005–12), and satirises British-American politics, in particular the inva ...

''. In 2009, he appeared as Gil Cameron on the BBC drama '' Hope Springs''. He played Michael Dugdale in Channel 4's acclaimed conspiracy thriller ''

''. In 2013 he appeared in series 1 of the BBC series ''

'' and returned for season 4 in 2017. He wrote a play titled ''Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us'', which was performed at the Traverse Theatre,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in a co-production with the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

in November 2008.

Personal life

Higgins is married to actress

Amelia Bullmore Amelia Mary Bullmore (born 31 January 1964) is an English actress, screenwriter and playwright. She is known for her roles in ''Coronation Street'' (1990–1992, 1995), '' I'm Alan Partridge'' (2002), '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2009), '' Twenty ...

, whom he met in 1992 while co-starring with her in ''

A View from the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...

'' in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Since December 2019 he has been Chair of ACT, the Actors' Children's Trust, and since September 2021 a Trustee of The Vegan Society.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Paul 1964 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors