Paul Higgins is a Scottish actor, best known for appearing in the British television series The Thick of It, Utopia and Line of Duty.

Paul Higgins
Born (1964-12-03) 3 December 1964 (age 59)
Occupation(s)Actor, Writer
Spouse
(m. 1993)
Children2

Early life

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Higgins was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, but now he considers himself a lapsed Catholic.[1] As a teenager, he trained to be a priest, but gave his training up aged 17 when he began dating.[2]

Career

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Higgins has appeared onstage in Paul and Black Watch, 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 show The Thick of It and its spin-off feature-length film, In the Loop. In 2009, he appeared as Gil Cameron on the BBC drama Hope Springs. He played Michael Dugdale in Channel 4's acclaimed conspiracy thriller Utopia. In 2013 he appeared in series 1 of the BBC series Line of Duty 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 in a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland in November 2008.[3]

Personal life

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Higgins is married to actress Amelia Bullmore, whom he met in 1992 while co-starring with her in A View from the Bridge in Manchester.[2] 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

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Year Film Role Notes
1986-90 Taggart Alastair Finn/ David Crawford TV series: 4 episodes
1988 The Play on One Murdo Caldwell TV series: 1 Episode ("A Wholly Healthy Glasgow")
1990 Boon Simon TV series: 1 Episode
1994 Being Human Soldier
1996-1997 Staying Alive Alan McPherson TV series: 12 episodes
1998 Bedrooms and Hallways John
2000 Complicity Andy
2000 Beautiful Creatures Aidan
2005-2007 The Thick of It Jamie McDonald TV series: 3 episodes
2006 Red Road Avery
2008 The Last Enemy Professor Lawrence Cooper TV series: 3 episodes
2009 Hope Springs Gil Cameron TV series: 8 episodes
2009 In the Loop Jamie McDonald
2009 Silent Witness DS Nick Wallace TV series: 2 episodes ("Safe")
2011 Vera Clive Stringer TV series: 1 Episode
2013 The Wrong Mans PC Hennessy TV series: 1 Episode
2012-2017 Line of Duty ACC Derek Hilton TV series: 11 episodes
2013-2014 Utopia Michael Dugdale TV series: 11 episodes
2015 Couple in a Hole John
2016 Raised by Wolves Sean TV series: 4 episodes
2017 Victoria & Abdul Sir James Reid
2017 Decline and Fall Prison Officer TV series: 1 Episode
2018 Apostle Frank
2018 The Party's Just Beginning Liusaidh's Dad
2019 Cold Call Kirk Wiley TV series: 4 episodes
2019 Greed Jim McBride
2021 Beep Father Sydney TV movie
2022 Slow Horses Struan Loy TV series: 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ English, Paul (27 November 2008). "Paul Higgins: Priesthood just wasn't for me – so I chose acting". Glasgow: Daily Record. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  2. ^ a b Higgins, Paul (15 August 2007). "Stuart Jeffries meets The Thick of It actor Paul Higgins". The Guardian. London.
  3. ^ "No One Will Ever Forgive Us". National Theatre of Scotland. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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