Joe Thomas (actor)

Joseph Owen Thomas (born 28 October 1983)[1] is an English actor, writer and comedian. He rose to fame when he was cast in the role of Simon Cooper in the award-winning E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners. The programme spanned for 3 series, producing 18 episodes, between 2008 and 2010. The show's success lead to two film adaptions, The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014), both achieving box office success.

Joe Thomas
Thomas at the British Academy Television Awards in May 2012
Born
Joseph Owen Thomas

(1983-10-28) 28 October 1983
Chelmsford, Essex, England
EducationKing Edward VI Grammar School
Alma materPembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation
  • Actor
  • writer
  • comedian
Years active2002–present
Television
Partner(s)Hannah Tointon (2010–)

After The Inbetweeners concluded, Thomas remained connected to Channel 4, joining the cast of comedy-drama series Fresh Meat in 2011, portraying the role of Kingsley Owen. The show was a success, winning and being nominated for multiple British Comedy Awards and being recognised for nominations at the British Academy Television Awards.

Thomas was reunited with his The Inbetweeners colleague James Buckley when they both joined the cast of BBC Two sitcom White Gold, with Thomas portraying the role of Martin Lavender. This became the second time that Thomas worked with a co-star from The Inbetweeners, having worked with Simon Bird for the second time in Chickens, a Sky 1 comedy in which they both created and wrote. White Gold broadcast 12 episodes with 2 series produced, airing between 2017 and 2019; Thomas also wrote 2 episodes.

Early life and education

Born in Chelmsford, Essex,[2] as the first of four boys, Thomas attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford before attending Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read History.[3] At Cambridge, Thomas was a member of the Footlights, alongside his future Inbetweeners co-star Simon Bird.[4] Bird and Thomas served as the President and the Secretary of the Footlights, respectively, in 2005–2006.[5] 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".[6] Nevertheless, Thomas graduated with a 2:1 degree in History in 2006.[7]

After graduation, Thomas briefly shared a flat with Bird and fellow Pembroke graduate and Footlights alumnus Jonny Sweet.[8]

Career

Early acting roles

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.[9]

After graduating from university, Thomas took to acting professionally, and his parents have accepted and are proud of his choice of career.[10]

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.[11]

Television

Thomas' big break in television was his role as Simon Cooper in The Inbetweeners which was so popular that it spawned two feature films, The Inbetweeners Movie and The Inbetweeners 2. Together with Bird and writing partner Sweet, he wrote Chickens, a satirical sketch about three conscientious objectors during World War I, which was a part of a proposed series, Comedy Showcase.[8] It made its debut in September 2011 and a full series was commissioned.

Following this, Thomas starred in the student sitcom Fresh Meat as Kingsley Owen and 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 other The Inbetweeners co-star James Buckley.[12]

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).[13]

Personal life

Thomas started dating his Inbetweeners co-star Hannah Tointon in 2010 or 2012. They became engaged in early 2017.[14]

Thomas resides in Barbican Estate, London.[15]

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 Taylor

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008–2010 The Inbetweeners Simon Cooper 18 episodes
2011–2016 Fresh Meat Kingsley 30 episodes
2011 Comedy Showcase George Episode: "Chickens"
2012 Threesome Teacher Episode: "Back to School"
2013 Chickens George 6 episodes; also creator and writer
2017–2019 White Gold Martin Lavender 12 episodes; also writer of season 2, episode 2.
2019 The Inbetweeners: Fwends Reunited Himself Special
Taskmaster Himself (contestant) Series 8

References
  1. Christie, Janet (27 May 2017). "Interview: Joe Thomas". The Scotsman. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  2. "Essex-born Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas on his new movie The Festival". The Echo. 10 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  3. Leggett, Tabatha (16 November 2010). "Tab Interview: Joe Thomas". The Tab. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
  4. "Cambridge Footlights Presents: Niceties". Cambridge Footlights. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008.
  5. "Footlights: Alumni 2000–2009". Cambridge Footlights. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
  6. Webb, Claire (9 October 2012). "Fresh Meat: Joe Thomas – I was quite similar to Kingsley at university". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  7. Webb, Claire. "What's next for an Inbetweener". BBC Nordic. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
  8. Lobb, Adrian (29 August 2011). "Chickens: What the Inbetweeners did next". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  9. "The Ariel Society presents... All's Well That Ends Well". Camdram. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  10. Webb, Claire (22 August 2013). "Chickens: Inbetweeners Simon Bird and Joe Thomas on playing overgrown schoolboys – again". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  11. "Jonny Sweet: smell of success". The Independent. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  12. Jodie, Halford (24 May 2017). "White Gold: Inbetweeners writer honours Essex roots". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  13. Bley Griffiths, Eleanor (23 March 2018). "Doctor Who actress Pearl Mackie to star in new BBC comedy Proposal". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  14. Soteriou, Stephanie (22 January 2017). "The Inbetweeners' Simon and Tara are engaged in real life". Yahoo. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  15. https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/joe-thomas-my-london-9653856.html

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