Joey Batey (born 1989) is an English actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. He is known for portraying the bard

Jaskier The fictional universe of '' The Witcher Saga'' was created by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The following is a list of notable characters from the series of book series and its adaptations. Overview * A dark grey cell indicates that the c ...

in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

fantasy series ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are be ...

'', where he sang " Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", as well other songs featured in the series.

Early life and education

Joey Batey was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He has said he grew up in a "musical family" and has always been around music. He studied at

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of bo ...

and

L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq is a school of physical theatre located on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Founded in 1956 by Jacques Lecoq, the school offers a professional and intensive two-ye ...

. Whilst at Cambridge, he co-wrote and performed the comedic sketch show ''Good Clean Men'' with Alex Owen, Ben Ashenden and others.

Career

Acting

Batey's film debut was in the 2013 British thriller, ''

Murder on the Home Front ''Murder on the Home Front'' is a two-part British television crime drama, written by David Kane and directed by Geoffrey Sax, that first broadcast on ITV on 9 May 2013. The series, which stars Patrick Kennedy and Tamzin Merchant in the princi ...

'', directed by

Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax (sometimes credited as Geoff Sax) is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of drama productions in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Life and career He began his directing career in the lat ...

. In 2014, he appeared in ''

The Riot Club ''The Riot Club'' is a 2014 British thriller drama film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade's 2010 play ''Posh''. The film stars Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth. It is set among the Riot Club, a fictional ...

'' directed by

Lone Scherfig Lone Scherfig (; born 2 May 1959) is a Denmark, Danish film director and screenwriter who has been involved with the Dogme 95 film movement and who has been widely critically acclaimed for several of her movies, including the Oscar-nominated film ...

. In 2017, Paul McGuigan cast him as Eddie in ''

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool ''Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool'' is a 2017 biographical romantic drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell, with a cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave and Julie Walters. It is based on the memoir o ...

''. Batey also played in the British TV series ''

Strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

'' (2017), and '' In The Dark'' (2017). He appeared in the series ''

Knightfall "Knightfall" is a 1993–1994 Batman story arc published by DC Comics. It consists of a trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994, consisting of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd".On the comic book covers, only the third part ...

'' in 2017–2018, a 14th century period piece centered on the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, where he played the role of Pierre, a

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

after information on the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...

. As of 2021, Batey was continuing to play the character of the bard,

, in

's adaptation of ''The Witcher'', based on the Polish novel series of the same name.

Musical performance

Batey is a vocalist and musician for the

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band The Amazing Devil, as well as the primary writer and composer. The band has released three albums including ''Love Run'' (2016), and ''The Horror and the Wild'' (2020). Their most recent album, ''Ruin'', was released on 31 October 2021. In

's adaptation of ''The Witcher'', Batey has performed the following songs featured in the series: " Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", "The Fishmonger's Daughter" and "Her Sweet Kiss", as well as "Burn Butcher Burn", "Whoreson Prison Blues" and "The Golden One".

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

References

External links

*
The Amazing Devil Official Website

The Amazing Devil
on Bandcamp {{DEFAULTSORT:Batey, Joey Living people Alumni of Robinson College, Cambridge British film actors British stage actors British television actors British video game actors British male singers Indie folk musicians Male actors from Newcastle upon Tyne 21st-century British male actors Royal Shakespeare Company members 1989 births