Paul Dawson | |
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![]() Dawson in 2015 | |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1998–present |
Partner | PJ DeBoy |
Paul Dawson is an American actor. In the 2006 comedy-drama film Shortbus , written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, he played the secretly suicidal former prostitute James. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The film Shortbus is noted for its explicit depiction of sexual activity, [1] [5] and, though Dawson is featured in one of the film's most graphic scenes, it was his portrayal of depression that garnered the critics' attention. [6] "Dawson's James haunts," said David Ansen of Newsweek , "the bitter taste of his despair feels real;" [7] and a reviewer for TV Guide said that James and Jamie (played by PJ DeBoy) were perhaps the "most adorable gay couple ever." [4]
In 1999, Dawson played Tar in The Blur of Insanity, an underground comedy written and directed by John Hussar about partying and drug use in college. The following year, he played a bellboy in The Big Kahuna , which starred Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito. Also in 2000, Dawson appeared as the Bloodied Man in Urbania , an independent drama based on the play Urban Folk Tales. Urbania premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and was seen at a number of LGBT film festivals. That same year Dawson played a hustler in "The Mountain King," a short film included in the 2001 LGBT-themed anthology Boys to Men. [8]
In 1999, Dawson appeared in the pilot episode of Strangers with Candy , "Old Habits – New Beginnings," and was also featured as "Derek Harland" in the Law & Order episode "Hate". [8]
Dawson is the graphic designer and a disc jockey for international "Mattachine" dance parties, which he co-founded in New York City in 2008. [9]