Coming from a family of well-respected theater actors, Paul Mercier was virtually immersed in performing while growing up. He got his first taste of stage acting at the age of six, when he performed in a play produced by his father's theater group in Maryland. It wasn't until his senior year in high school, however, that Mercier decided to pursue acting in earnest. In 1980 he won a full scholarship to study acting at Adelphi University, and began acting in everything from Shakespearean tragedies, to Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. After college Mercier continued his theatrical training at the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in London, where he continued to study the craft, while also giving rousing performances as some of Shakespeare's most time-honored characters, including Mercutio from "Romeo and Juliet." By the early '90s Mercier moved back to the United States and started teaching acting in Los Angeles. It was during this time that his career found its second wind with voiceover work. Throughout the decade, Mercier began lending his voice to such animated programs as "The Cartoon Cartoon Show," "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest," and "The Powerpuff Girls." In the 2000s he started doing voiceover work for video games as well, including "Resident Evil 4," "SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs," and 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."