Tom Payne (actor)
English actor
title: "Tom Payne (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1982-births", "living-people", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "alumni-of-the-royal-central-school-of-speech-and-drama", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-stage-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "people-educated-at-king-edward's-school,-bath", "male-actors-from-bath,-somerset"] description: "English actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Payne_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English actor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Tom Payne |
| image | Tom by Pablo Laguia.jpg |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Chelmsford, Essex, England |
| education | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
| occupation | Actor |
| years_active | 2005–present |
| spouse | |
| children | 3 |
| father | Jeremy Payne |
| relatives | Will Payne (brother) |
| :: |
| name = Tom Payne | image = Tom by Pablo Laguia.jpg | birth_date = | birth_place = Chelmsford, Essex, England | education = Royal Central School of Speech and Drama | occupation = Actor | years_active = 2005–present | spouse = | children = 3 | father = Jeremy Payne | relatives = Will Payne (brother)
Tom Payne (born 21 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for appearing on AMC's The Walking Dead as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, and BBC's Waterloo Road as Brett Aspinall. He portrayed Malcolm Bright on the American television series Prodigal Son from 2019 to 2021. Payne also currently has a recurring role in Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Early life
Payne grew up in Bath, Somerset, where he attended King Edward's School and was a prolific contributor to the school's drama department. He attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in June 2005.
Career
In January 2007, he first appeared in Waterloo Road for the BBC, playing sixth former Brett Aspinall. Despite being 24 at the time, Payne portrayed a 17-year-old character. He remained in the series until the end of the following season in March 2008. It was revealed afterwards that he would not be returning for the new season. Between season 1 and 2 he filmed Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Skins and was named one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow 2007.
After leaving Waterloo Road Payne played George Best in Best: His Mother's Son, a BBC Two film about the legendary footballer. In the same year he appeared in Marple: They Do It With Mirrors and Wuthering Heights for ITV.
On 8 March 2010, it was announced that Tom had joined the cast of Luck a new pilot for HBO directed by Michael Mann, written by David Milch, starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. He played the role of a Cajun jockey.
In 2012, he was cast in the title role of The Physician (based on the book of the same name) alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Ben Kingsley.
His career defining role came when he was cast with a recurring role in Season 6 of The Walking Dead, as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, and promoted to series regular for season 7. He played the character until midway through season 9.
In 2019, Payne was cast in the lead role as a serial killer's son in the Fox police procedural series Prodigal Son.
Personal life
Payne began dating singer Jennifer Åkerman in late 2013. He announced on an episode of Walking Dead that they had become engaged. Åkerman later revealed on her Instagram that they married on 21 December 2020 after postponing their wedding due to COVID-19. They had a son, born on 5 January 2022 and twins on 1 April 2024.
His younger brother Will Payne is also an actor.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day | Phil Goldman | |
| 2009 | Into the Rose-Garden | Sam | Short film |
| 2011 | The Task | Stanton | |
| Generation Perdue | Toby Perdue | Short film | |
| 2012 | The Inheritance | Matthew | |
| My Funny Valentine | Zander | ||
| Still Young | Edward | Short film | |
| 2013 | The Physician | Rob Cole | |
| 2015 | Winter | Tom | |
| MindGamers | Jaxon | ||
| 2017 | It's No Game | East | Short film |
| 2019 | IO | Elon | Voice role |
| 2024 | Imaginary | Max | |
| Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 | Hugh Proctor | ||
| Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 | |||
| 2025 | The Physician 2: The Return | Rob Cole | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Casualty | Toby Tyler | Episode: "Love and Duty" |
| 2007 | Skins | Spencer | Episode: "Effy" |
| Miss Marie Lloyd | Bernard | Television film | |
| 2007–2008 | Waterloo Road | Brett Aspinall | Recurring role, 32 episodes |
| 2008 | He Kills Coppers | Jonny Taylor | Television film |
| 2009 | Wuthering Heights | Linton | 2 episodes |
| Miss Marple | Edgar Lawson | Episode: "They Do It with Mirrors" | |
| Best: His Mother's Son | George Best | Television film | |
| Beautiful People | Mr. Carr | Episode: "How I Got My Plumes" | |
| 2010 | The People vs. George Lucas | Himself | Documentary |
| 2011–2012 | Luck | Leon Micheaux | 9 episodes |
| 2014 | New Worlds | Monmouth | 4 episodes |
| 2016–2019 | The Walking Dead | Paul "Jesus" Rovia | Recurring (season 6) |
| Main cast (seasons 7–9); 25 episodes | |||
| 2016–2018 | Talking Dead | Himself | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | The Nightly Show | Episode: "With David Walliams - Night Four" | |
| 2018 | Fear the Walking Dead | Paul "Jesus" Rovia | Guest Star, episode: "What's Your Story?" (season 4) |
| 2019–2021 | Prodigal Son | Malcolm Bright (formerly Whitly) | Lead role (32 episodes) |
| 2024 | Law & Order: Organized Crime | Julian Emery | 5 episodes |
| :: |
References
References
- "Walking Dead Star Tom Payne and Wife Jennifer Akerman Welcome a Baby Boy: 'Love You Immeasurably'".
- "Famous birthdays for Dec. 21: Tom Payne, Jane Fonda".
- Dobson, Patricia. (2007-07-12). "UK Stars Of Tomorrow 2007: The Actors (3)". Screendaily.com.
- Reynolds, Simon. (27 November 2008). "Payne to star as George Best in BBC drama". [[Digital Spy]].
- Andreeva, Nellie. (2010-10-13). "Four trying their 'Luck' in HBO pilot". The Hollywood Reporter.
- (22 February 2016). "Jesus Speaks! The Walking Dead's Tom Payne Talks His Big Arrival and Surprising Connection to Andrew Lincoln".
- "Jesus speaks! New 'Walking Dead' cast addition Tom Payne gives first interview".
- Goldberg, Lesley. (7 July 2016). "'Walking Dead' Promotes 4 to Series Regular for Season 7 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- (12 March 2019). "Tom Payne Takes Over Lead Role in Fox Pilot 'Prodigal Son' From Finn Jones".
- (9 May 2019). "Scandal Alum Bellamy Young's New Show Prodigal Son Is Officially Heading to Fox".
- (9 May 2019). "Fox Picks Up 4 New Drama Series: 'Prodigal Son', 'Deputy', 'NeXt' & Weisman/Katims; What Does It Mean For Network's Bubble Dramas?".
- (21 October 2024). "'The Physician II' Starring Tom Payne, Emily Cox, Aiden Gillen and Liam Cunningham Debuts First Look, Beta Cinema to Launch Sales at AFM".
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