Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski (; July 23, 1982), better known by his stage name Paul Wesley, is an American actor and film director. He is known for starring as Stefan Salvatore in '' The Vampire Diaries'' (2009–2017) and James T. Kirk in '' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' (2022–present).
In 2003, Paul also starred as Lucas Luthor, Lex Luthor's younger brother, in the superhero series ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...
''.
Early life
Paul Wesley was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Polish parents Tomasz and Agnieszka Wasilewski. He grew up in
Marlboro Township, New Jersey
Marlboro Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York metr ...
. He has one elder sister, Monika Emara, and two younger sisters, Leah and Julia.
In addition to English, he also speaks Polish, having spent four months of every year in Poland until the age of 16. Wesley attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and Marlboro High School for a period during his high school years. He started his theater studies in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and transferred from Marlboro High School to Lakewood Prep School in Howell, New Jersey, because the school was able to better accommodate his acting schedule. During his junior year in high school, he was cast in the soap opera ''
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
'' as character Max Nickerson.
He started college at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
in New Jersey but left after one semester when more roles were offered to him, and he realized he could make a career out of acting.
Career
2001–2008: Early acting roles and ''Fallen''
In 2001, Wesley, then credited as Paul Wasilewski, was one of the main cast members of the short-lived CBS television series '' Wolf Lake'', playing the role of Luke Cates. He appeared in the 2008 CBS television film '' The Russell Girl'', and had the lead role in the 2007
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
Army Wives
''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...
'', ''
Cane
Cane or caning may refer to:
*Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking
* Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance
* White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
'', ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...
teen drama
In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
television series '' The Vampire Diaries'' since its premiere in September 2009 on
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
. In the series, he played a younger brother to Damon Salvatore as well as the love interest of a 17-year-old girl named Elena Gilbert. His work garnered him two
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...
.
Throughout the years, he has appeared in a variety of films. In 2014, he co-starred in, as well as produced, ''
Before I Disappear
''Before I Disappear'' is a 2014 American drama film directed by Shawn Christensen. The film is a feature-length adaptation of his 2012 Oscar-winning short film, ''Curfew (2012 film), Curfew''. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest ...
'', which went on to win the
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
Film Festival Audience Award and compete at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
's "Venice Days" section. That same year he co-starred with '' Amira and Sam'' which was acquired by Drafthouse Films.
In 2014, he was cast in the film ''
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...
'', and it was also announced he was set to star in and produce a science fiction film called ''Convergence''. He also co-starred in '' The Baytown Outlaws''.
In 2016, he co-starred in the comedy '' The Late Bloomer''. His other feature credits include
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to:
Gates
*Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...
2018–present: Directing, theatre roles, ''Tell Me a Story'' and ''Star Trek: Strange New Worlds''
Wesley began directing '' The Vampire Diaries'' in its fifth season and produced the series at the start of season 8. He directed episode 16 in season 2 of ''Shadowhunters'' for Freeform. In November 2016, it was announced that under the label of his newly formed production company, Citizen Media, Wesley signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television to produce four new television shows, including ''Confessions of a Drug-Addicted High School Teacher'', written by Jason Smith; ''Pecos'', written by
Shawn Christensen
Shawn Christensen is an American musician, filmmaker, podcaster and artist. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration and graphic design. Christensen was the frontman of the indie rock band Ste ...
; ''Finding Natalie'', written by Hilary Bettis and ''Shanghai Summer'', written by Oanh Ly.
His theater work includes the co-lead in the well-received
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
production ''Cal in Camo'' at the Rattlestick Theater in New York City. He was also the co-lead in ''Sensitive Skin'', written by Shem Bitterman. In March 2018, Wesley joined the New York Theatre Workshop's production of ''Zurich'' in New York City.
In June 2018, it was reported that Wesley had joined the main cast of the CBS All Access TV series '' Tell Me a Story'', which was created by Kevin Williamson. In 2019, Wesley's production company, Citizen Media signed a development deal at Kapital Entertainment. Other network television directing credits include '' Shadowhunters'' and ''
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell () is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,422 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fi ...
''. He also starred in the second episode of the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
miniseries ''
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
Paramount+
Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
In 2014, Wesley was given the Humane Generation Award for his work with the Humane Society, specifically farm
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
.
Additionally, Wesley has hosted two fundraising campaigns on Represent.com to raise funds for charity. For his first campaign, Wesley released a cat shirt design to raise funds for The Humane Society of the United States. The campaign sold almost 3,000 units. For his second campaign, Wesley teamed up with '' The Vampire Diaries'' co-star, Ian Somerhalder, to release a limited-edition shirt designed by a fan, with the words "Blood Brothers Since 1864." This campaign sold almost 10,000 shirts.
In 2020, Wesley and Somerhalder announced the launch of a straight
bourbon whiskey
Bourbon whiskey (; also simply bourbon) is a Aging (food), barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the Kingdom of France, French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncerta ...
, Brother's Bond Bourbon.
Personal life
Wesley met and began dating Torrey DeVitto in 2007 when they acted together in '' Killer Movie''. They married in a private ceremony in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in April 2011. In July 2013, it was reported that they had filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in December 2013.
Wesley lived in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, while filming ''The Vampire Diaries'' and the rest of the time with DeVitto in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. He sold his Los Angeles residence after his divorce from DeVitto.
Wesley was in a four-year relationship with Australian actress and ''The Vampire Diaries'' co-star, Phoebe Tonkin, with the couple breaking up in 2017.
In February 2019, Wesley married Ines de Ramon. They separated in 2022 and their divorce was finalized in February 2024.
Wesley is an ethical
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...