"I've Barely Even Scratched the Surface": Paul Forman Reflects on Life, Acting, and Emily in Paris

Long before he found fame, Paul Forman learned to disappear. Now, he’s learning to stay.

At just five years old, Paul Forman pulled off what he considers his earliest and perhaps most daring performance: faking his own death. Dropped off at a children’s ski club in Les Menuires, a young, introverted Paul wanted nothing more than to escape. His plan? To play dead. The idea was that after he fainted, the resort’s staff would call his parents, and overcome with grief, they would take him home, where he’d end up making a miraculous recovery. The act wasn’t entirely convincing, but it did raise just enough concern. ‘He’s still breathing!’ he overheard one of the staff say. The plan wasn’t foolproof, but it worked.

“So I’d call it a successful debut,” Paul says. It’s the kind of story he delivers with comic timing so practiced, you can tell he’s told it a hundred times before. But beneath the humor is an early glimpse into something that still drives his work today, which is a deep urge to perform. “Perhaps I’m a bit over dramatic?” he comments about the stunt, “but one thing feels sure, I found my purpose in life.”

Born to a French-English household, Forman was raised with a love for cinema and theater, interests passed down by his cinephile mother. But despite this initial exposure to the arts, his path as an actor wasn’t as linear as he had hoped. “Unfortunately, my school was particularly academic and didn’t allow any room for extracurricular activities, so alas, drama classes were never an option,” he explains. This eventually led him to study mathematics at university, one of his strongest subjects growing up. It wasn’t until he joined the university’s drama society, mostly for social reasons, that something clicked. “For the first time in my life, I felt I had found my tribe and I belonged.” The shift for the budding actor was profound, and soon after, he was accepted into drama school, setting in motion the journey that would lead him to the sets of Nevrland, The Spanish Princess, and Frank of Ireland.

His biggest break came when he was cast as Nicolas de Léon in Emily in Paris, a role that happened almost overnight, involving a whirlwind casting and a quick Eurostar to the French capital. “I mostly trained in theater,” he says, which helped him handle the sudden shift to the role. The quick turnaround added another level of pressure for the budding actor, but he found the challenge of such a significant role energizing. “It pushes you to dig deep and really embrace everything,” he adds about the role. 

Beyond acting, Forman is also writing a play about grief, something he first began to understand as a teenager when a classmate’s mother passed away. He remembers being struck by how composed his friend seemed, carrying himself with a kind of maturity that didn’t quite match the moment. Wanting to support him without forcing a conversation, he offered company through distraction. “I told him I was there if he didn’t feel like talking about it.” What followed, unexpectedly, were some of the most joyful days of his youth. “Of course, what I hadn’t realized at the time, was that he was experiencing the first level of grief: Denial.” The memory never left him, and he felt compelled to tell an authentic story out of respect. 

And that authenticity also underpins everything Forman does. Whether slipping into the persona of a character or moving a pawn across a chessboard (his new favorite hobby is chess), his current obsession is driven by a desire to understand what’s beneath the surface. “What’s of utmost importance for me is to find the truth behind each of my characters; why they move, speak, and think the way they do,” he explains, and Paul believes in approaching life much the same way. 

But given the unpredictability of the entertainment industry, upholding these beliefs hasn’t been easy. Early on in his career, Forman saw the industry as this place far from reach. “It’s Mordor and you’re a little Hobbit in the shire,” he shares, but with time, that mysticism dissolved. “I understand my value now. I want to tell stories which will inspire and provoke, and I don’t feel like I need to wait for permission to do that anymore.”

It’s taken years to achieve this mindset, with Paul candidly mentioning that only a few years ago he had struggled with his own mental health, often feeling like he had no victories. Fearing the consequences of that growing doubt, he turned to the things he could control; chess, football, good food, good friends, and slowly, things began to shift, and the more present he felt, the more things fell into place.

For Paul, this sense of presence has now become his personal compass. After years of struggling to navigate his life in the arts, he realized “that most things do not go according to plan, and that’s okay, and life has taught me to cherish each day as it comes.” 

And while Emily in Paris might have introduced him to a global audience, it’s also clear he is much more optimistic and interested in what comes next. Every time he is asked about the future of his acting career, Paul replies with the same answer, “I genuinely no longer concern myself with where I see myself in 10 years, but I hope to be asked this question again in a few years and see how my answer differs.”

It is evident that the boy who once played dead to escape skiing hasn’t disappeared, he’s simply grown into someone who no longer avoids discomfort but learns from it. What began as a moment of escape has now become a clearer sense of direction: to stay present, to stay curious, and to keep moving. “I’ve barely even scratched the surface,” he says, not out of self-doubt, but with the awareness that there’s still much more to learn, and just as much to give.

By GAP YAP. Photographed by CHUCK REYES. Styled by Aaliyah Semillano. Hair and makeup by Noemie Laborde. Talent: Paul Forman. Shot on location at Prince de Galles, Paris.