| Joseph Gilgun | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph William Gilgun 9 March 1984 Chorley, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor best known for playing Eli Dingle in ITV's Emmerdale, Woody in the film This Is England and Rudy Wade in series 3 of E4's Misfits.
Contents |
Gilgun was born in Chorley, Lancashire, to mother Judith and father Andrew. He has two younger sisters: Jennie and Rosie. He attended Rivington VA Primary School and Southlands High School. He also trained at the Laine Johnson Theatre School and the Oldham Theatre Workshop. He has both dyslexia and ADHD, which he describes as the "biggest pain of [his] life".[1][2] He started drama workshops at the age of eight, following advice from an educational psychologist, and was described as having "exceptional talent". When he was 10, he got his first TV acting role in Coronation Street. He stayed until he was 13. Gilgun studied art at Runshaw College. He started a degree in fashion design, but found it too academic. He was a plasterer, until returning to acting full time with Emmerdale. He has developed a close relationship with his co-stars from the This Is England stories, referring to them in interviews as "the gang".[3]
As a child actor, Gilgun played little tearaway Jamie Armstrong in Coronation Street between 1994 and 1997. He left the soap when the actress playing his on-screen mother left. Gilgun revisited the set in an ITV special The Kids from Coronation Street in 2004.
Gilgun took a break in his teens, acting part-time in local and national stage productions including the Manchester-based Hanky Park the Musical at The Lowry.[4][5] He played Charlie Millwall in a tour of the stage play Borstal Boy, which ended at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Critics liked the production.[6] He found the break difficult, telling The Guardian in December 2011 that "[I] went off the fucking rails" and became confused about what to do with his life. He ended up working as a plasterer. [7]
He returned to acting full-time in 2006, when he won the roles of both Woody in This Is England (see Film Work below) and trouble-prone Eli Dingle in Emmerdale. Gilgun announced he would quit Emmerdale on 10 November 2009, feeling the time was right to move on. His last appearance was on 30 April 2010. An Emmerdale representative said the programme had not ruled out a future return for the character.[8] Gilgun later indicated he currently had no such plans.[9]
Gilgun reprised the character of Woody for a four-part Channel 4 TV spin-off of This Is England, called This Is England '86.[10] The first episode aired at 10pm on 7 September 2010.
On 9 May 2011 it was announced that Gilgun had been cast as newcomer Rudy in the third series of Misfits which began to air in late October 2011.[11] He replaced the character of Nathan following the departure of Robert Sheehan. An online short called Vegas Baby covered Nathan's exit and Rudy's arrival. It was available on the E4 website from 15 September.[12] Gilgun said that replacing Sheehan had "been frightening... You'd think that it'd be a total ballache, what with being new and stuff and Rob doing such a good job". [13] The character Rudy, can split himself into two, his conscience. He appears in the very first episode of the third series. In December 2011, he returned, once again, to portray Woody in the three-part television series, This Is England '88.[14]
He has also appeared in a Dingle-centred episode of Ghosthunting with... hosted by Yvette Fielding in 2007 and in 1998, when he was 14 years old, he presented a feature on Wish You Were Here...? where he visited Phantasialand, Germany's largest theme park [15]
Joe Gilgun's debut as a film actor was as the kind-hearted skinhead Woody in This Is England, which he completed filming shortly before he started on Emmerdale. A semi-autobiographical feature film written and directed by Shane Meadows, it was released in the UK on 27 April 2007 and subsequently won several awards including a BAFTA for 'Best British Film' 2008.[16][17][18][19]
Joe was granted time off from Emmerdale to shoot the British crime thriller Harry Brown where he played drug dealer Kenny Soames.[20][21][22] Harry Brown was released on 11 November 2009.[23]
Gilgun played Karl in British prison film Screwed. It was released in the UK on 3 June 2011.[24]
Gilgun will play Hydell in US sci-fi film Lockout co-written and produced by Luc Besson and starring Guy Pearce. It will be released on April 13, 2012.[25]
In 2007, Gilgun starred alongside welterweight boxing champion Michael Jennings in a locally produced feature-length documentary entitled Chorley: Where People Go to Fight. All proceeds went to Derian House Children's Hospice, with Joseph helping to present the cheque.[26]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | This Is England | Woody | |
| 2009 | Harry Brown | Kenny | |
| 2010 | Top of the Range | Joe | Short (10 minutes) |
| 2011 | Screwed | Karl | |
| 2012 | Lockout | Hydell | (Post-production) |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–1997 | Coronation Street | Jamie Armstrong | ITV | |
| 1998 | Wish You Were Here...? | Guest Presenter | ITV | |
| 2004 | Hollyoaks | Marcus | Channel 4 | Guest |
| 2005 | Shameless | Rico | Channel 4 | Series 2 Episode 2 |
| 2005 | Big Dippers | Carl | ITV | TV Movie |
| 2006 | Sorted | Car Mechanic | BBC1 | Series 1 Episode 5 |
| 2006–2010 | Emmerdale | Eli Dingle | ITV | |
| 2010 | This Is England '86 | Woody | Channel 4 | Drama mini-series |
| 2011 | This Is England '88 | Woody | Channel 4 | Drama mini-series |
| 2011- | Misfits | Rudy Wade | E4 | Series 3 (2011) |
In 2010, Joseph was asked to star in the music video for Dead American Writers, the debut single of Tired Pony, on their first album, The Place We Ran From. Writer/director and longtime Shane Meadows collaborator Paul Fraser was asked to do a study of a great young actor for the video. Founder Gary Lightbody says he wanted the video to "strip away any thoughts of who made the record and make it purely about performance. A great face and, hopefully, a great song".[27]
Gilgun was nominated alongside fellow castmember Stephen Graham for 'Best Supporting Actor/Actress' for his role of Woody in This is England. Both ultimately lost out to Leslie Phillips for his role in Venus.[28]
Gilgun was nominated for 'Best Newcomer' for his role of Eli Dingle in Emmerdale. In the end, the award went to Kym Marsh.[29]
Gilgun was nominated for 'Most Popular Newcomer' also for his role as Eli Dingle. Once more, he lost to Kym Marsh.[30]