Paul Anderson is an English film and television actor who came to prominence for portraying Arthur Shelby Jr. in Peaky Blinders, Mr Anderson in the 2015 film The Revenant, and Sebastian Moran in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.^[1]

Anderson decided to pursue acting in the mid 2000s, after working for many years as a ticket scalper and aspiring musician, and enrolled at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his acting career by appearing in plays written by his friend Gregory Burke, and made his screen debut with Burke's critically acclaimed 2014 film '71.^[2] He had his first leading role in the 2009 British movie, The Firm.

Anderson's break came when, in 2013, he was cast as a main character in the BBC Two show Peaky Blinders as Arthur Shelby, a gangster in post First World War Birmingham. Since then, Anderson has appeared in many major films, including Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea and The Revenant, as well as Brimstone, which was released in 2016.

On 1 February 2024, Anderson made an appearance in a promo trailer for the upcoming undisputed heavyweight boxing match between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.^[3][4]

Anderson is from Kennington, South London.^[2] In January 2024, he was found guilty of drug possession.^[5][6]