Paul can now act on his dream

A top karate instructor is using the focus and discipline that made him a world champion to help set him on the path to a successful acting career.
Grangemouth martial artist Paul LapsleyGrangemouth martial artist Paul Lapsley
Grangemouth martial artist Paul Lapsley

Paul Lapsley (43), from Grangemouth, has been involved in martial arts since he was seven and trained and fought hard to win the Kobe Osaka International World Championship back in 2011.

Having reached the pinnacle of his sport, Paul is now pursuing acting with the same determination and is now laying the foundations for the future.

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Paul said: “Last year I couldn’t go for auditions but now I’ve got Equity that’s opened up doors for me and I can go for bigger auditions. I now have a casting agent who is pushing me for work.

“It’s been a busy year – I’ve had the opportunity to play Hitman Agent 47 in a kind of media mash up film for the release of the new video game. I’m doing the groundwork for an acting career and I’m really enjoying it.”

Paul’s love of acting began in 1996 when he played a suspect in BBC’s Crimewatch and he went on to appear in the Charlie Sheen 1998 thriller Postmortem and Ewan McGregor’s 2003 canal bank romp Young Adam.

Since then he has earned himself a number of bigger acting parts, including an anti-bullying film which has been screened in schools to help raise awareness against the issue. His work on a time travel film called Flux, for which he had to learn a convincing Russian accent, brought him to the attention of the director and, due to some spectacular stunt work, he ended up becoming fight co-ordinator for the production.

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He said: “I was given the honour of organising the final fight scene which was set in a casino and they thought it was amazing. The director has now got me in mind for a few more films.

“The feedback I’ve had from directors is really good. You learn a lot of stuff when you’re on set. I was focused when I was competing in karate and I bring that focus to my acting.”

Paul still teaches his karate and his students love hearing about his acting adventures.

He hopes 2017 will be his breakthrough year and is already linked to a short film Batman: Fallen Son and is brushing up on his sword fighting skills for a fantasy Game of Thrones style production called Kingdom: The Fall of Illandrieal.

Visit www.paullapsley.com for more information.