Paul Hilton

Early life

Hilton was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1970 to Dorothy and David Hilton. He has described his background as working-class, "a million miles away" from the theatre world that he now works in.

Hilton said to have been inspired to pursue acting by his drama teacher at North Chadderton School, as well as his school trips to local theatres in and around Manchester. “I was intoxicated by regional theatre. At Oldham Coliseum Theatre, I saw the thing that I could be and, once I’d done my first school play aged 14, there was no stopping me.”

Hilton trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and moved to London upon graduation.

Career

Acting

Hilton's work ranges from radio drama, television series and features, as well as film and theatre.

Hilton has appeared in TV programmes including Garrow's Law (as freethinker Joseph Hamer), The Bill, Silent Witness, Wire in the Blood, Midsomer Murders (in the episode "The Oblong Murders"), Robin Hood, and has had regular character roles in True Dare Kiss (as Dennis Tyler) and Casualty 1909 (as Henry Percy Dean). Since 2008, he has starred as William Palmer/Pilgrim in the BBC Radio 4 supernatural drama series Pilgrim.

Hilton also appeared in the film Klimt and as Mr. Earnshaw Snr. in Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

In 2010, he appeared as Sandy in Mark Haddon's play Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse, and in 2011 played the title role in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare's Globe. In July 2015, he was part of the premiere cast of Damon Albarn's musical Wonder.land at the Manchester International Festival. For director Rufus Norris he was The Boson in Lucy Kirkwood's Mosquitoes (2017) at London's National Theatre.

He played the character of The Fool in the Deep Time Walk Mobile Guide, produced in 2016/7 by Jeremy Mortimer.

He appeared as Alexander, the husband of the protagonist Katherine (played by Florence Pugh) in the 2016 film Lady Macbeth, which transposed the action of the novel by Nikolai Leskov to the Northeast of England.

In 2017, he starred in the title role in a National Theatre Live production of Peter Pan.

He played the part of David Holmes in the television drama series A Very English Scandal, based upon John Preston's non-fiction book about the Thorpe affair.

In 2018, Hilton played E. M. Forster in the world premiere of Matthew Lopez's play The Inheritance at London's Young Vic, reprising his role in the West End (at Noël Coward Theatre) and Broadway transfers (at Ethel Barrymore Theatre). In 2020, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance, and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance.

Audiobook

Hilton narrated the audiobook version of Mark Bowles's debut novel, All My Precious Madness, co-published by Galley Beggar Press and Spiracle in 2025. For this work, Hilton was nominated in the New Voice and Best Audiobook Fiction categories in the inaugural British Audio Awards. He won the latter.

Hilton's narration of All My Precious Madness was also highly acclaimed by critics. The Bookseller noted his ability to "[capture] all the emotion, empathy and humour". The Guardian praised that Hilton "brilliantly inhabits [the protagonist's] hopeless grouch and conveys his many contradictions".

Personal life

Hilton is married to actress Anastasia Hille and they have two adult children.

Hilton identified as "bicurious and fluid" as a teenager during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. He credited the role of E.M. Forster in The Inheritance for "allow[ing] me to unearth aspects of myself that I hadn’t really addressed from my earlier years".

In 2023, Hilton was among the signatories of the campaign led by actress Julie Hesmondhalgh to save the Oldham Coliseum Theatre in his hometown from closure. The campaign succeeded in reversing Oldham's decision to demolish the building, as well as securing a £10 million refurbishment. The venue is set to reopen in 2026.

Filmography