Joe Thomas (actor)

Joe Thomas
Thomas at the May 2012 BAFTA Television Awards in London
Born Joseph Owen Thomas
(1983-10-28) 28 October 1983
Chelmsford, Essex, England
Alma mater Pembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation Actor, writer
Years active 2002–present
Partner(s) Hannah Tointon (2010–present; engaged)

Joseph Owen Thomas (born 28 October 1983) is an English actor. He portrayed Simon Cooper in the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners, and Kingsley Owen in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Fresh Meat.

Early life and education

Born the first of four boys, Thomas has three younger brothers. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford as a teenager before proceeding to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied History.[1] At Cambridge, Thomas was a member of the Footlights, alongside his Inbetweeners co-star Simon Bird.[2] Bird and Thomas served as the President and the Secretary of the Footlights, respectively, in 2005–2006.[3] Of his education, he states, "I never really recovered from the fact that the lecturers weren't paid to be nice to me. Or that the carrot-and-stick thing that happened at school no longer occurred. If you do quite well, nobody's that bothered; and if you really fuck up, nobody's that bothered. It has to be from you and I was easily distracted".[4] Nevertheless, Thomas graduated with a 2:1 degree in History in 2006.[5]

After graduating with a degree, Thomas briefly shared a flat with Bird and fellow Pembroke graduate and Footlights alumnus Jonny Sweet.[6]

Career

Early acting career

After entering the performing arts via the Footlights, Thomas performed with fellow University of Cambridge students at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a production of All's Well That Ends Well directed by author Duncan Barrett.[7]

After graduating from university, Thomas took to acting professionally, and his parents have accepted and are proud of his choice of career.[8]

Thomas is in a double act along with Sweet, and they have performed their show, The Jonny and Joe Show, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[9]

Television career

Thomas' big break in television was his role as Simon Cooper in The Inbetweeners and its feature film The Inbetweeners Movie. Together with Bird and writing partner Sweet, they wrote Chickens, a satirical sketch about three conscientious objectors during World War I, which was a part of a proposed series, Comedy Showcase.[6] It debuted in September 2011 and a full series was commissioned.

Following this, Thomas starred in the student sitcom Fresh Meat as Kingsley Owen and has played a maths teacher in the first episode of the second series of Threesome. In 2017, Thomas began starring in the sitcom White Gold, along with his The Inbetweeners co-star, James Buckley.[10]

Radio

In 2018 Thomas began work on Proposal, a comedy radio series announced as part of BBC Radio 2's spring "funny fortnight", in which he plays Jamie, a man preparing to propose to his girlfriend Lucy (Pearl Mackie).[11]

Personal life

Thomas started dating his co-star Hannah Tointon in 2010. They became engaged in early 2017.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Inbetweeners Movie Simon Cooper
A Trick of the Light Joe (voice) Short film
2012 Straw Donkey Tom
2014 The Inbetweeners 2 Simon Cooper
2015 Scottish Mussel Danny
2016 The Darkest Universe Toby
2018 The Festival Nick

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008–2010 The Inbetweeners Simon Cooper 18 episodes
2011–16 Fresh Meat Kingsley 30 episodes
2011 Comedy Showcase George Episode: "Chicken"
2012 Threesome Teacher Episode: "Back to School"
2013 Chickens George 6 episodes; also creator and writer
2017–present White Gold Martin Lavender 6 episodes

References

  1. ↑ Leggett, Tabatha (16 November 2010). "Tab Interview: Joe Thomas". The Tab.
  2. ↑ Cambridge Footlights Presents: Niceties
  3. ↑ "Footlights: Alumni 2000–2009". Cambridge Footlights. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Webb, Claire (9 October 2012). "Fresh Meat: Joe Thomas – I was quite similar to Kingsley at university". Radio Times.
  5. ↑ Webb, Claire. "What's next for an Inbetweener". BBC Nordic.
  6. 1 2 "Chickens: What the Inbetweeners did next". guardian.co.uk. 29 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Association of Cambridge Theatre Societies". camdram.net. 2004-08-21. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  8. ↑ Webb, Claire (22 August 2013). "Chickens: Inbetweeners Simon Bird and Joe Thomas on playing overgrown schoolboys – again". Radio Times.
  9. ↑ "Jonny Sweet: smell of success". independent.co.uk. 18 January 2011.
  10. ↑ Jodie, Halford. "White Gold: Inbetweeners writer honours Essex roots". BBC News.
  11. ↑ Bley Griffiths, Eleanor (2018-03-23). "Doctor Who actress Pearl Mackie to star in new BBC comedy Proposal". Radio Times.
  12. ↑ "The Inbetweeners' Simon and Tara are engaged in real life". Retrieved 2017-01-22.

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