Paul James "Mackenzie" Crook (born 29 September 1971) is an English actor, writer, director, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for playing Gareth Keenan in The Office, Ragetti in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and Orell in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Biography

Crook and his wife Lindsay, a former advertising executive, reside in Muswell Hill, London. They were married in April 2001 and have a son, Jude Michael (born 17 January 2003) and a daughter, Scout Elizabeth (born 24 December 2007).

Crook is an atheist. In a 2006 interview, he stated:




“

I don't believe in life after death. I'm a staunch atheist and I know when I die that will be it, I'll just blink out of existence. It's not an incredibly comforting thought but I'm completely at peace with that idea and it just makes me appreciate this life all the more. It's almost a panic to get as much done and to have as much experience as possible.

”



As a teenager, he inherited a rare breeding pair of Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises, leading to his hobby of breeding chelonians. In January 2010 on The Andrew Marr Show, Crook revealed that he himself provides the tortoises used in his new play Jerusalem, taking them from his own creep. A committed conservationist, Crook purchased eight acres of Essex woodland in 2008, to create his own private nature reserve. In an interview with the BBC he denied claims made on Wikipedia that he was a Green Party of England and Wales activist.