Paul Blackthorne

Paul Blackthorne, born on March 5, 1969, in Wellington, Shropshire, England, spent his early childhood moving between UK military bases in Britain and Germany due to his father’s career. He began his acting career in England by appearing in television commercials, notably the Grim Reaper advertisement for Virgin Atlantic, which helped establish his presence in the industry. His career gained international recognition with his first major film role as Captain Andrew Russell in the 2001 Academy Award-nominated Bollywood film “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India.” For this role, Blackthorne undertook six months of Hindi language training.

Following “Lagaan,” Blackthorne transitioned to roles in American films and television. He appeared in critically acclaimed independent films such as “Mindcrime” (2003) and “Four Corners of Suburbia” (2005), with the latter winning the Best Narrative Feature at the Crossroads Film Festival in 2006. His television career expanded with recurring roles in prominent series like “ER” (2004) and “24” (2004). He took on lead roles in “The Dresden Files” (2007) as wizard-detective Harry Dresden and as Shane Healy in “Lipstick Jungle” (2008-2009).

Blackthorne’s directorial debut came in 2013 with the documentary “This American Journey,” which tracked his and photographer Mister Basquali’s cross-country journey to interview Americans about their country’s future. The film was featured at multiple film festivals, including Hollywood, Carmel, Ojai, and Big Bear. A significant career milestone was his casting as Detective Quentin Lance in The CW’s superhero drama “Arrow” (2012-2020), a role he held as a series regular for six seasons and later returned for guest appearances. He also extended his acting to video games, voicing Gideon Hask in “Star Wars: Battlefront II” (2017) and contributing voice work to “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” (2016).