Paul W. Sparks is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire, writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, and attorney David Tellis in the Starz anthology drama series The Girlfriend Experience. Sparks has also starred in the films Deception, Afterschool, The Missing Person, Mud, Parkland, Stealing Cars, Thoroughbreds, and The Greatest Showman.