John Paul Hurley

Represented By: Ivan Mulcahy

School never made much sense to John Paul — he struggled academically but always loved telling stories. After a string of terrible jobs, he auditioned for drama school with self-written monologues, and life finally began to make sense. On the first day, a lecturer asked what the students hoped to achieve from their acting careers. He simply said he wanted to work with Mike Leigh.

After graduating, he was cast in acclaimed plays and soon began working in TV, building credits and learning from brilliant actors. He went on to win Best Actor at the European Indie Film Awards. Not long after, Mike Leigh cast him in Peterloo, giving him the experience of a lifetime.

The Bruntwood Prize later shortlisted one of his plays, These Fragile Walls. John Paul has written and developed several TV projects and a film with different production companies, as well as contributing as a writer to the Scottish soap River City. He is currently developing his optioned film Nelson’s Head with American and Irish producers. Manus in Wonderland is his first novel

“This unique, tragic-comic epic is compelling, disgusting, hilarious and masterful. Its eponymous anti-hero is as engaging as he is offensive, whilst the vast supportive cast of flawed humanity is drawn with great sensitivity and rare wit. Manus is unique: I doubt the existence of anything remotely like it. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it turned out to be a best seller.”
- Mike Leigh, BAFTA-winning, Oscar multi-nominated filmmaker