Paterson Joseph

Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and '' Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty'' (1997–1998), as Alan Johnson in Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show'' (2003–2015), ''Green Wing'' (2004–2006), '' Survivors'' (2008–2010), '' Boy Meets Girl'' (2009), as DI Wes Layton in '' Law & Order: UK'' (2013–2014), as Holy Wayne in '' The Leftovers'' (2014–15), as DCI Mark Maxwell in ''Safe House'' (2015–2017), and as Connor Mason in '' Timeless'' (2016–2018). His film roles include '' The Beach'' (2000), ''Greenfingers'' (2001), ''Æon Flux'' (2005) and '' The Other Man'' (2008).

Early life

Joseph was born on 22 June, 1964 in Willesden Green, London to parents from Saint Lucia. He attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C. High School in north-west London, a predominantly Irish-Catholic school. He has described himself as a "terrible bunker" whilst at school, opting to spend the best part of two years in the local public library instead.

He worked briefly as a catering assistant at a hospital, before deciding to pursue acting as a profession. Joseph first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London (South Kensington Library) from 1983 to 1985 with Robert Henderson. He later attended LAMDA, before going on to perform for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Royal National Theatre.

Career

Theatre

In 1991, Joseph won second prize in the Ian Charleson Awards, for his 1990 performances of Oswald in ''King Lear'', Dumaine in '' Love's Labour's Lost'', and the Marquis de Mota in ''The Last Days of Don Juan'', all at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1992 he starred as Richard Henry in ''Blues for Mister Charlie'' by James Baldwin, directed by Greg Hersov at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.

Joseph's theatre credits include the title role in '' Othello'' at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, as well as parts in '' Henry IV'', ''King Lear'', and ''Hamlet'' for a performance in New York City. In 2012 he played Brutus in a performance by the RSC of ''Julius Caesar'' set in Africa. In 2004 he undertook a project, filmed for Channel 4 in a documentary entitled ''My Shakespeare'', to direct a version of ''Romeo & Juliet'', using 20 young non-actors from the deprived Harlesden area of London.

In 2006, he became a patron of ''OffWestEnd.com'', a listings site for theatre outside the mainstream. Other stage appearances in 2006 and 2007 include the leads in ''The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' and ''The Emperor Jones'' at the Olivier Theatre, London. In 2015, ''Sancho: An Act of Remembrance'', a solo play written and performed by Joseph and based on the life of Ignatius Sancho, was staged in Oxford and Birmingham, and toured in the US starting in October.

In late 2019 and early 2020 Joseph starred as Ebenezer Scrooge at the Old Vic Theatre in London in their production of '' A Christmas Carol''.

Television

He has played many roles in British television programmes, both drama and comedy. These include Reuben in ''William and Mary'', alongside Martin Clunes; Mark Grace in ''Casualty''; the Marquis de Carabas in ''Neverwhere''; Alan Johnson in ''Peep Show''; Lyndon Jones in ''Green Wing''; and Shorty in the first episode of '' Jericho''.

Joseph also appeared in the acclaimed drama ''Sex Traffic'' (2004), in the 2005 TV version of Kwame Kwei-Armah's acclaimed play '' Elmina's Kitchen'' and in the '' Doctor Who'' episodes "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" as Rodrick, a contestant on a futuristic version of the ''Weakest Link'' game show. He has also appeared in various supporting roles in '' Dead Ringers''. In 2006 he appeared in the television sketch show ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'', in which he played Simon, a contestant on the game show ''Numberwang''.

In 2007, Joseph played Space Marshall Clarke in two series of the BBC
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