David Paisley

David Paisley grew up in Glen Village near Falkirk with his mother and his five brothers. Shy and with low self-esteem David was bullied at primary school because of his poor background. Even though he had 'a few girlfriends' he was always more aware that he was attracted to boys and at 15 headed to a gay youth group where he eventually met his first boyfriend. At 17, he went to Glasgow University to study Physics (and later to Caledonian university to study Optometry) where he began to become more confident and at 18, finally came out to his family who were very supportive, even helping him start a grassroots website to combat the "Keep the Clause" campaign. It was during his gap year that David got his first taste of acting when he appeared in a community workshop, but he was unsure about pursuing acting as a career, and continued to stay at university until he heard about an open audition for a show called Tinsel Town. After a lot of coaxing from friends he auditioned and landed the part of 17-year-old Ryan Taylor who falls in love with a man twice his age. The role brought him into the public eye and after appearing in the second series of Tinsel Town (as well as landing a guest spot on As If and appearing in a few theatre productions) David landed the part of gay midwife Ben Saunders in BBC1's popular medical soap Holby City. During his time on the show, his character became involved in one of the show's first major 'cross-over' storylines with its sister show Casualty, where his kiss with his on-screen boyfriend attracted 114 complaints from viewers. But having relocated to London, David soon began to miss his friends, family and partner and decided to leave the show in 2003 to move back up to Glasgow. David and his boyfriend Alex, then went traveling for year in Brazil, giving him some time off. Now back in the UK, next up for David is trying to help get the film adaptation of David Leavitt's While England Sleeps up and running, in which he will take the lead role of Edward Phelan.