Paul Walter Hauser’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

Vastly underrated, Paul Walter Hauser has steadily been a fantastic actor in a variety of interesting movies and television shows throughout his career. The American actor has had a number of roles over the course of two decades, which include parts in Super Troopers 2, Beats, Cruella, and Inside Out 2. His breakthrough came in the Clint Eastwood-directed movie, Richard Jewell, showcasing the immense talents he has as an actor.

Hauser has had roles in a number of TV shows as well, including Kingdom, Netflix’s fantastic series Cobra Kai, and Black Bird, one of the best Apple TV shows of all time. With an undisclosed role in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s possible that Hauser’s career is about to get even bigger, after he has already built an incredibly impressive resume.

10

Cruella (2021)

Paul Walter Hauser as Horace Badun

It was reasonable to be weary of a prequel movie about the villain of One Hundred and One Dalmatians given Disney’s hit-or-miss track record with live-action remakes, but Cruella was a delightful surprise, with a fantastic central performance by Emma Stone. Beautiful production design and cinematography elevate Cruella even more, making it one of the best live-action Disney movies in quite a long time. Its 1970s London punk rock setting was an inspired choice, making it feel fresh.

Paul Walter Hauser plays Horace Badun, in Cruella, a thief and a henchman who grew up with the titular character after her adoptive mother’s death. His performance was largely inspired by Mr. Smee in Hook, and the inspiration is apparent, with Hauser giving a strong performance in each scene he is in.

9

The Afterparty (2023)

Paul Walter Hauser as Travis Gladrise

The Afterparty is a delightful comedic murder mystery anthology series, with the first season taking place at a high school reunion after-party, and each episode showing a different character’s perspective on what happened. Season 2 follows the same formula, but takes place the day after a wedding. Featuring an extensive list of guest actors, and its ability to blend genres, The Afterparty is a highly entertaining series.

Paul Walter Hauser joins the cast in The Afterparty season 2, playing Travis Gladrise, the ex-boyfriend of Poppy Liu’s Grace Zhu, and a citizen detective, doing some online sleuthing prior to going to Grace’s wedding. He tells his perspective in the style of crime noir drama, and Hauser does a fantastic job with that task. He is great throughout the entire season, never getting lost among the strong cast of actors around him.

8

Kingdom (2014-2017)

Paul Walter Hauser as Keith

Starring Frank Grillo, Kiele Sanchez, Jonathan Tucker, and surprisingly, Nick Jonas, Kingdom is a great drama series about Alvey Kulina (Grillo), a retired MMA fighter who now runs a gym where he helps train fighters, including his sons. Kingdom is often more concerned with what goes on outside the gym, making it a solid drama, with fully realized characters that are compelling to watch, especially Alvey.

While not a main character, Paul Walter Hauser plays a significant role in the series as Keith, a former halfway house roommate and friend to Matt Lauria’s Ryan Wheeler, who then invites Ryan to live with him at his home. Keith is often emotional and prone to disturbing outbursts, making him a compelling, complex character to watch onscreen, and Hauser does an incredible job with that aspect of the character.

7

Cobra Kai (2019-2025)

Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond “Stingray” Porter

Starting off as a YouTube Red original series before becoming a Netflix show, Cobra Kai surprised everyone with how great it actually was, following Johnny Lawrence decades after his fall from grace to Daniel LaRusso at the All-Valley Karate Championships. Leaning into earnestness, Cobra Kai is a surprisingly emotional love letter to the Karate Kid franchise, while also taking it in an incredible new direction, running for six fantastic seasons in the process.

Cobra Kai is a surprisingly emotional love-letter to the Karate Kid franchise.

Paul Walter Hauser plays Raymond “Stingray” Porter in a recurring role in Cobra Kai. Stingray is an immature man-child who took an interest in karate, hoping to be trained at the Cobra Kai Dojo to escape the responsibilities of adulthood. Hauser’s performance as Stingray is often quite humorous, but he can easily dig deeper into who the character is sometimes, elevating Stingray to an even greater degree.

6

I, Tonya (2017)

Paul Walter Hauser as Shawn Eckhardt

Directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella), I, Tonya is a fascinating look at American figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to rival skater Nancy Kerrigan’s assault prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics. I, Tonya features a tour-de-force performance by Margot Robbie as Harding. The movie often finds humor in the situation, while also exploring the darker aspects of the real-life story, making it quite poignant by the end of the film.

Paul Walter Hauser has the minor role of Shawn Eckhardt in the movie, Harding’s bodyguard and friend of Sebastian Stan’s Jeff Gillooly, Tonya’s boyfriend and future ex-husband. Hauser makes the most of his screen time, as Shawn is instructed by Jeff to send death threats to Tonya’s rival but ends up hiring two crooks to injure her instead. Hauser’s chemistry with Stan is one of the highlights of his performance.

5

Inside Out 2 (2024)

Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment

Having to follow up one of Pixar’s best films of the past decade is no easy task, but Inside Out 2 did an admirable job, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time (for a short while, at least). Outside its financial success, it is also very good, following Riley’s time at an ice hockey camp right before she starts her freshman year of high school. Inside Out 2 successfully introduces several new emotions that take center stage in Riley’s mind, leading to the humor and gut-punching emotion the franchise is known for.

Paul Walter Hauser has the job of voicing Embarrassment in Inside Out 2, one of the new emotions that joins the crew as Riley begins to experience more complex emotions. He doesn’t have many lines of dialogue for most of the movie, but Hauser is fantastic in the role, which often asks him to make various noises to express the embarrassment the character is feeling. When he does talk, it’s a major surprise, but a sweet development for the character.

4

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Paul Walter Hauser as Simon

Da 5 Bloods is a Spike Lee joint, telling the story of four Vietnam War veterans returning to the country decades later to search for the remains of their squad leader. The film is one of Lee’s most ambitious works and is always poignant in what it wants to say about racial injustice, not only in America but also during the Vietnam War and its treatment of Black soldiers. It’s a beautifully touching film and one of the director’s best.

Paul Walter Hauser doesn’t have the biggest role in Da 5 Bloods, playing Simon, a volunteer from LAMB, an organization that helps clean up landmines in Vietnam. Though his screen time is limited, Hauser does an admirable job as the character, portraying him in a complex light when he finds himself caught up in a serious situation.

3

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Paul Walter Hauser as Ivanhoe

Another film directed by Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman follows the first African American detective for the Colorado Springs Police Department in the 1970s as he attempts to infiltrate the local KKK chapter. Often humorous but never losing sight of what it wants to say to modern audiences, BlacKkKlansman is a powerhouse movie, and one of the greatest films of Lee’s career, featuring a breakthrough performance from Denzel Washington’s son, John David Washington.

Paul Walter Hauser does a tremendous job playing Ivanhoe, one of the film’s main antagonists. Dimwitted and prone to making a fool of himself, Ivanhoe is a member of the KKK tasked with assassinating a Black student union leader. Hauser’s performance shows how inept and pathetic Ivanhoe is as a person, and it feels cathartic when he is accidentally killed after a car bomb goes off with him inside.

2

Richard Jewell (2019)

Paul Walter Hauser as Richard Jewell

Depicting the events of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing and its aftermath, Richard Jewell tells the story of the titular figure who worked security at the event, and alerted authorities to evacuate after discovering the bomb. He is later wrongly accused of placing the device himself, exploring the media narrative about the man. It’s a solid exploration of sensationalism and law enforcement overreach.

Richard Jewell might not be the greatest film from Clint Eastwood, but it is one of the best performances by Paul Walter Hauser, who plays the titular character. In fact, it was his first big breakout role, as he does a tremendous job capturing who Richard Jewell is and the sad situation he finds himself in. Hauser is simply incredible in it, marking the moment he truly made a name for himself in Hollywood.

1

Black Bird (2022)

Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall

Inspired by actual events, Black Bird is a fascinating miniseries that tells the story of a once-promising football player who is sentenced to 10 years in prison, but given a choice between befriending a suspected serial killer to get a confession, or serve out his jail time with no chance of parole. Black Bird is an incredible drama series that provides a gritty, morally complex look at the American prison system while forcing the main character to evaluate his own life and the choices that led him to his position.

Paul Walter Hauser is simply phenomenal as Larry Hall, the suspected serial killer that Taron Egerton’s James Keene must befriend. Black Bird takes a look at Larry Hall’s life and the often morally grey way authorities tried to get his confession. It’s one of Paul Walter Hauser’s best performances, earning him a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award.