Paul Wesley Information

Actor
USA

Biography:
Paul Thomas Wasilewski was born on July 23, 1982 to Thomas & Agnieshka Wasilewski in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Paul was raised in Marlboro, New Jersey along with his three sisters, Julia, Leah & Monika. In the third grade he was enrolled in a summer a summer arts program where he developed his first interest in acting.

During his teenage years Paul attended three different high schools including an all-boys Catholic school. While trying to fulfill his duties as a high school student Paul started trying to pursue his ambitions to be an actor. He auditioned and landed a role on an episode of Another World as Sean McKinnon. He then landed a part on Guiding Light as Max Nickerson. Paul said he has good memories from his time on Guiding Light, "It sort of shaped my childhood - I got kicked out of school because of it. I went to class once a week because I was shooting the show, and they're like "Get out of here." That was kind of my high school experience. I made friends - Brittany Snow was on it, Hayden Panettiere was on it. It was my first experience in front of the camera. I was nervous as hell, but it was my tool, my education."

Once Paul graduated from high school he enrolled at Rutgers University where he only attended a semester and then dropped out so he could focus on his acting. Over the next few years Paul was cast in parts in notable television series such as Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Smallville, The O.C. and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.

He also starred as Luke Cates in the short lived series Wolf Lake where he was a werewolf. He had a reoccurring part on Everwood as Amy Abbott's friend Tommy Callahan and also on American Dreams as JJ Pryor's best friend and football teammate Tommy DeFelice.

After his first five years in the business Paul decided to change his surname to Wesley. When asked why he made this decision he said, "Wasilewski was too hard to pronounce! I asked my family's permission to change it, and it's really helped my career."