Paul Dawson (actor)

Paul Dawson
Paul Dawson in 2015
Occupation	Actor, DJ, writer
Years active	1998–present
Partner(s)	PJ DeBoy

Paul Dawson is an American actor, DJ and writer perhaps best known for playing the secretly suicidal former prostitute James, one of the principal characters in Shortbus, a 2006 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell.

The film Shortbus is noted for its explicit depiction of sexual activity, 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. "Dawson's James haunts," said David Ansen of Newsweek, "the bitter taste of his despair feels real;" and a reviewer for TV Guide said that James and Jamie (played by PJ DeBoy) were perhaps the "most adorable gay couple ever."

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.