Paul Wesley
American actor (born 1982)

Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski (Polish: ['pavɛw vaɕi'lɛfskʲi]; July 23, 1982), better known by his stage name Paul Wesley, is an American actor and film director. He is known for starring as Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) and James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present).
In 2003, Wesley also starred as Lucas Luthor, Lex Luthor's younger brother, in the superhero series Smallville.
Early life
Wesley was born Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski on July 23, 1982, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Polish parents Agnieszka and Tomasz Wasilewski. He grew up in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. He has one older sister, Monika Emara, and two younger sisters, Leah and Julia. In addition to English, he speaks Polish, having spent four months of every year in Poland until the age of 16. He has said he has "40% Jewish" heritage.
Wesley attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and Marlboro High School for a period during his high school years. He started his theater studies in New York City and transferred from Marlboro High School to Lakewood Prep School in Howell, New Jersey, because the school was able to better accommodate his acting schedule.
The public source identifies “Paul Wesley” as american actor (born 1982). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Paul, Wesley and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q270149. VIAF identifies the subject as 121212495. The Library of Congress control number is no2010076711. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982, 2009, 2017 and 2022.
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This entry incorporates text from “Paul Wesley” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.