Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
Paul Greengrass
August 13, 1955
Cheam, Surrey, England
71 Years Old
Leo
Who Is Paul Greengrass?
Paul Greengrass is a British film director and screenwriter, celebrated for his gritty, documentary-style approach to storytelling. He consistently delivers intense, realistic narratives that immerse audiences in compelling, often real-life, events.
Greengrass gained significant public attention with his acclaimed 2002 film Bloody Sunday, which earned him the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. This critical success quickly established his unique directorial voice in global cinema.
Early Life and Education
Born and raised in Cheam, Surrey, England, Paul Greengrass developed a keen interest in filmmaking early in life, experimenting with a Super-8 camera during his secondary school years. His father was a river pilot, and his mother worked as a teacher.
Greengrass attended Westcourt Primary School, Gravesend Grammar School, and Sevenoaks School before pursuing English literature at Queens' College, Cambridge. His academic journey led him to a career in journalism, working for Granada Television's investigative program World in Action, which further honed his narrative instincts.
Notable Relationships
A string of high-profile filmmaking projects has defined Paul Greengrass's public life, alongside his long-standing marriage to talent agent Joanna Kaye.
Greengrass has five children in total, with whom he co-parents: two from an earlier marriage and three with his current wife, Joanna Kaye.
Career Highlights
Paul Greengrass rose to international prominence with his signature kinetic filmmaking style, notably in the Bourne action-thriller series. His direction of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum revitalized the franchise, with the latter becoming its most financially successful entry globally.
Beyond action films, Greengrass is celebrated for his deeply researched, true-event dramas. United 93 earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Director and an Academy Award nomination, while Captain Phillips and News of the World garnered widespread critical acclaim.
He also co-founded Directors UK in 2007, a professional organization for British filmmakers, serving as its first president until 2014, and was honored with a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2017.
Signature Quote
"I’d like to have made Lawrence of Arabia. It is one of the great, great films of all time. Just the sense of spectacle, the complexity of it, the emotionality of it and the way it gets to the complexity of humanity. It is absolutely a masterpiece."