Tom Payne (born 21 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for appearing on AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, and BBC's ''Waterloo Road'' as Brett Aspinall. He portrayed Malcolm Bright on the American television series '' Prodigal Son'' from 2019 to 2021. Payne also currently has a recurring role in '' Law & Order: Organized Crime''.

Early life

Payne grew up in Bath,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, where he attended King Edward's School and was a prolific contributor to the school's drama department. He attended the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, graduating in June 2005.

Career

In January 2007, he first appeared in '' Waterloo Road'' for the BBC, playing

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

er Brett Aspinall. Despite being 24 at the time, Payne portrayed a 17-year-old character. He remained in the series until the end of the following season in March 2008. It was revealed afterwards that he would not be returning for the new season. Between season 1 and 2 he filmed '' Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'' and '' Skins'' and was named one of

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

's Stars of Tomorrow 2007. After leaving '' Waterloo Road'' Payne played George Best in '' Best: His Mother's Son'', a

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

film about the legendary footballer. In the same year he appeared in '' Marple'': '' They Do It With Mirrors'' and '' Wuthering Heights'' for ITV. On 8 March 2010, it was announced that Tom had joined the cast of '' Luck'' a new pilot for HBO directed by Michael Mann, written by David Milch, starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. He played the role of a Cajun

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. In 2012, he was cast in the title role of '' The Physician'' (based on the book of the same name) alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Ben Kingsley. His career defining role came when he was cast with a recurring role in Season 6 of '' The Walking Dead'', as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, and promoted to series regular for season 7. He played the character until midway through season 9. In 2019, Payne was cast in the lead role as a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

's son in the Fox

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

series '' Prodigal Son''.

Personal life

Payne began dating singer Jennifer Åkerman in late 2013. He announced on an episode of ''Talking Dead'' that they had become engaged. Åkerman later revealed on her Instagram that they married on December 21, 2020 after postponing their wedding due to COVID-19. They had a son, born on January 5, 2022 and twins on April 1, 2024. His younger brother Will Payne is also an actor.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Tom 1982 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors People educated at King Edward's School, Bath Male actors from Bath, Somerset