| Paul Blackthorne | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born: | March 5, 1969 Wellington, Shropshire, London, United Kingdom |
| Role: | Stephen Saunders |
- "...the money is always the last thing I think about. I'd never seen 24 before, but I think the nature and quality of the show and the people you get to work with are important. If someone says: "Do you want to do a show with Kiefer Sutherland?" It's not going to take you too long to answer."
- — Paul Blackthorne on the appeal of 24
Paul Blackthorne (born March 5, 1969; age 56) played Stephen Saunders during Season 3 of 24. He is a British actor with simultaneous film, television and radio careers. His stunt double for the role was Oliver Keller.
Biography
Paul Blackthorne was born in Wellington, UK. He first broke into acting via television commercials in England. His breakthrough commercial came as The Grim Reaper for Virgin Atlantic. Numerous radio commercials followed.
On the big screen he starred as Captain Andrew Russell in the Oscar-nominated Lagaan, Mindcrime, and the indie feature length film, Four Corners of Suburbia (with Alec Newman). Additional independent film credits include Bret Easton Ellis's This is Not an Exit, and a starring role in the British movie, The Truth Game.
On television, he was Doctor Matt Slingerland of Presidio Med (with Scott Paulin) and made notable appearances as Guy Morton in the British series Holby City, Liam MacGregor in Peak Practice, and Doctor Jeremy Lawson in NBC's ER (with Steven Culp). He also made two different appearances on Medium (with Phil Abrams) and guest-starred on popular shows like Burn Notice (with Gideon Emery) and CSI: Miami (with Christina Chang and Michael Madsen). He also played the lead character of Harry Dresden in the SciFi Channel's The Dresden Files (with Daniel Kash), and also starred in the short-lived Lipstick Jungle with Kim Raver.
In 2012, Blackthorne starred in ABC's The River, along with Leslie Hope and Thomas Kretschmann and currently stars as Detective Quentin Lance in The CW series Arrow alongside 24 alumni Jeffrey Nordling and Roger Cross.
Paul is also a noted photographer and has had his photography exhibited.
24 credits
Trivia
- In the final episode of the season: Day 3: 12:00pm-1:00pm, a profile of his character, Stephen Saunders, is seen on a computer screen. It describes him as being only 5' 10", despite the fact that he is notably taller. Blackthorne's height is 6' 3".
- Paul originally auditioned for the role of Michael Amador, another one of the Season 3 characters. After failing the audition, his agent negotiated with the producers and managed to get the role of Saunders.
