Joe Thomas (actor)

Joe Thomas

Thomas at the 2012 BAFTA Television Awards in London, May 2012
Born Joseph Thomas
28 October 1983
Chelmsford, Essex, England
Alma mater Pembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation Actor, writer
Years active 2008–present
Partner(s) Hannah Tointon (2010- )

Joseph "Joe" Thomas (born 28 October 1983) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Simon Cooper in the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners[1] and Kingsley Owen in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Fresh Meat.

Early life and education

Thomas was born the first of four boys (with 3 brothers) in Chelmsford, Essex in the United Kingdom on 28 October 1983. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School as a teenager before proceeding to the Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he studied History.[2]

At the University of Cambridge, Thomas was a member of the Footlights, alongside his Inbetweeners co-star Simon Bird.[3] Bird and Thomas served as the President and the Secretary of the Footlights, respectively, in 2005–2006.[4] 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 f**k up, nobody's that bothered. It has to be from you and I was easily distracted".[5] Nevertheless, Thomas graduated with a 2:1 degree in History in 2006.[6]

After graduating with a degree, Thomas briefly shared a flat with Bird and fellow Pembroke graduate and Footlights alumnus Jonny Sweet.[7]

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.[8]

After graduating from university, Thomas took to acting professional, and his parents have accepted and are proud of his choice of career.[9]

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.[10]

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.[7] 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.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Inbetweeners Movie Simon Cooper
2011 A Trick of the Light Joe (voice) Short
2012 Straw Donkey Tom Short
2014 The Inbetweeners 2 Simon Cooper

Television

Year Title Role Note
2008–2010 The Inbetweeners Simon Cooper 18 episodes
2011–present Fresh Meat Kingsley 24 episodes
2011 Comedy Showcase George Episode: "Chicken"
2012 Threesome Teacher Episode: "Back to School"
2013 Chickens George 6 episodes
Also creator, writer

References

  1. ↑ The Inbetweeners - Sitcom - British Comedy Guide
  2. ↑ Leggett, Tabatha (16 November 2010). "Tab Interview: Joe Thomas". The Tab.
  3. ↑ Cambridge Footlights Presents: Niceties
  4. ↑ "Footlights: Alumni 2000–2009". Cambridge Footlights.
  5. ↑ Webb, Claire (9 October 2012). "Fresh Meat: Joe Thomas - I was quite similar to Kingsley at university". Radio Times.
  6. ↑ Webb, Claire. "What's next for an Inbetweener". BBC Nordic.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Chickens: What the Inbetweeners did next". guardian.co.uk. 29 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Association of Cambridge Theatre Societies". camdram.net. 2004-08-21. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  9. ↑ Webb, Claire (22 August 2013). "Chickens: Inbetweeners Simon Bird and Joe Thomas on playing overgrown schoolboys - again". Radio Times.
  10. ↑ "Jonny Sweet: smell of success". independent.co.uk. 18 January 2011.

External links