Prasanna Puwanarajah

Actor/Writer/Director

Photo by pip

Prasanna is an actor, director and writer.

His acting credits include playing Martin Bashir in The Crown (Netflix) as well as key roles in Payback (ITV) Ten Percent (Amazon/Bron Studios), Patrick Melrose (Sky), Defending the Guilty (BBC) and Doctor Foster (BBC). In addition, he has worked on various productions for the National Theatre, RSC, Donmar Warehouse and Young Vic. 

His writing credits include Boy starring Timothy Spall which screened at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony and the award-winning The Half Light in 2011. His first stage play Nightwatchman was produced by the National Theatre in 2011. His graphic novel, Sleeper, co-written with Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty) was published in August 2021. He and Mecurio have also teamed up on writing Breathtaking - a new series for ITV about the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic based on the bestselling book by Doctor Rachel Clarke.

He recently directed his first feature film Ballywalter which was selected as part of 2021’s Cannes ‘Great 8’ and was released in the UK and Ireland in 2023. On stage he directed Venice Preserved for the RSC to mainstream critical acclaim in 2019.