John Paul was born in January 1974 in Denaby, a mining village near Mexborough in South Yorkshire. In 1995 he moved to Edinburgh to study drama at the Queen Margaret University college and has made the city his base ever since. In 2007 he won best actor at the European Independent Film Awards in Paris for his role in the short 'Laid Off', which was filmed in Glasgow. In addition to his many appearances in populist television dramas he has also written the black comedy 'Ecclesiastical Supplies' which was staged in Glasgow in 2015.