The ever in-demand Paul Kaye will be bringing a selection of his paintings to London’s West Bank Gallery later this month, and the highly versatile star has a number of other intriguing projects in development.

TVO readers may know of Paul from his appearances in Mongrels, Pulling and seminal cult classic Strutter – or his dramatic roles in everything from Two Thousand Acres Of Sky to Being Human and Stella. He will soon be wowing audiences as Thoros of Myr in smash hit fantasy series Game Of Thrones (which returns this weekend), but there’s a lot more to Kaye than you may realise.

With a background in graphic design in the days before he shocked showbiz as crass reporter Dennis Pennis, it’s only natural that Kaye is a gifted artist, and he’ll be exhibiting a selection of his paintings at London’s West Bank Gallery at the end of the month as part of The Collective.

His work, which is as colourful and anarchic as one would expect from such a charismatic talent, will be joining that of artists Kimberley Thomas, Hjordis Folgelberg, Dan Johnson, Tracey Taylor and Lance Tilbury – with private viewing on Tuesday 23rd April, and the show open to the public until Tuesday 30th April.

Paul has also been in touch about his various up & coming projects, and whilst it’s early days, we can’t help but tease you with titbits about them.  He’s currently filming a BBC drama about a 19th century whaling voyage in Malta called The Whale – allowing that impressive beard he’s grown a little more time in the spotlight!

This follows his appearance in forthcoming thriller Blackwood – starring Sophia Myles, Ed Stoppard and Russell Tovey, which is currently in post-production for release later this year.

Most intriguingly, the former rock star (he achieved cult fame in We Are Pleb and TV Eye in the late 80s/early 90s), has formed a new musical project called ZaNg along with fellow actor Marc Warren and long-standing collaborator Adie Hardy, who he last worked with soundtracking Kathy Burke series Walking And Talking last year.

Zang are currently demoing material, and having heard an exclusive sneak peek, TVO can confirm it’s exciting stuff. Imagine PiL meets Massive Attack with a side order of Bowie’s “1.Outside” period, but still very much its own powerful beast, and you’re not too far off!  We’ll hopefully be bringing you their debut music video in the coming weeks, so stay peeled.

In the meantime, we’ll leave you with this little gem which we uncovered this week having missed it back when it aired as part of a BBC4 documentary on Klezma music last year, which has got us itching for a rocked up version of Oliver! featuring Paul as Fagin.  Enjoy…