Page 251 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book
P. 251
17 February 2020
Paapa Essiedu on growing up in
London, interviews and his new
play Pass Over
The actor made headlines as the RSC’s Hamlet. He talks about his bold new
theatre and TV roles
Paapa Essiedu: Actors “can affect people as literally as a doctor”
HAMISH BROWN FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE
If he hadn’t become an actor, Paapa Essiedu would have become a doctor. This is not some
idle “what if”, either; as a teenager growing up in east London he won a place at medical school
before gambling on drama school instead. It has all gone rather well: a breakthrough role at the
age of 25 playing Hamlet for the RSC, followed by more strong stage work and roles in
television series by Mike Bartlett, Jack Thorne and, coming soon, Michaela Coel. Yet he still
hopes that his chosen career can do good as well as entertain.
