His recent film credits include The Beach (with Leonardo Di Caprio), Green Fingers and In The Name of the Father. His television credits include a number of BBC series, such as Casualty, where he played series regular Mark Grace, Silent Witness, Waking the Dead, Between the Lines and director Danny Boyle's Not Even God Is Wise Enough.

Other television credits include Neverwhere, The Bill, Sam Saturday, Dead At Thirty and Streetwise. He also starred in Soldier Soldier and Cold Feet. Paterson's real love has been theatre, where he has appeared in many Shakespearean productions - including Othello, Henry IV, Hamlet, Love's Labour Lost, King Lear and The Tempest.

He won the Best Actor at the 2001 TMA Awards, which sits alongside his earlier award for Best Actor, which he won when appearing in London Fringe Theatre as Leon in Raping the Gold.