Making his film debut in 1983 with the TV movie The First Part of King Henry VI, Paul Jesson is an English film and television actor. He made his debut with the television show Carry on Laughing (1975) and went on to act in a few other television shows like Angels (1976), Clayhanger (1976), and Esther Waters (1977). A few of his other notable works include films like The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), Acceptable Levels (1985) and television shows like Widows (1983), Intimate Contact (1987), Final Run (1988), Holding On (1997), A Touch of Frost (1992-2010), The Glass (2001), Rome (2005-2007) and Vera (2011- ). Jesson also starred in the films All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Coriolanus (2011), Mr. Turner (2014) and The Children Act (2017).

In 2017 Jesson starred in director Sergio G. Sanchez's horror-thriller Marrowbone (2017). The cast also has George MacKay, Mia Goth, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Charlie Heaton in important roles.