Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

series '' Brassic'', Marcus in Hollyoaks, Eli Dingle in the ITV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'',

Jamie Armstrong The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' in 1994, by order of first appearance. Tricia Armstrong Tricia Armstrong, played by Tracy Brabin for a period of three years between 1994 ...

in the long-running ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'' , Woody in the film ''

This Is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. The story centres on young skinheads in England in 1983. The film illustrates how their subculture, which has its roots in 1960s West Indies culture, especi ...

'' (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series, and

Rudy Wade Rudy Wade is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 science fiction comedy-drama '' Misfits'', portrayed by Joe Gilgun. After Robert Sheehan, who played Nathan Young, announced his departure, it was announced a new character called Rudy ...

in E4's '' Misfits''. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the AMC

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

comic ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

'' as the Irish vampire Cassidy.

Early life

Gilgun was born in

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, to Judith and Andrew Gilgun. He grew up in Rivington, Lancashire, as part of a working-class family with his two younger sisters, Jennie Seddon and Rosie Thomson. Gilgun attended Rivington VA Primary School and Southlands High School. He has

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

, which he describes as the "biggest pain of islife" and in interviews has openly discussed depression and anxiety. He started drama workshops at the age of eight, following advice from an

educational psychologist An educational psychologist is a psychologist whose differentiating functions may include diagnostic and psycho-educational assessment, psychological counseling in educational communities (students, teachers, parents, and academic authoriti ...

, and was described as having "exceptional talent". He also trained at the Laine Johnson Theatre School and the Oldham Theatre Workshop. When he was 10, he got his first TV acting role in ''

''. He stayed with the show until he was thirteen years old. Gilgun studied

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

at Runshaw College.Outside of odd jobs and a few roles in small theatre productions, Gilgun worked as a plasterer until returning to acting full-time with ''

'' in 2006.

Career

1994–2006: Early career

As a child actor, Gilgun played little tearaway

in ''

'' between 1994 and 1997. He left the soap when the actress playing his on-screen mother left the show. Gilgun revisited the set in an ITV special ''The Kids from Coronation Street'' in 2004. In 1998, when he was 14 years old, he presented a feature on '' Wish You Were Here...?'' where he visited

Phantasialand Phantasialand is a theme park in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that attracts approximately 2 million visitors annually. The park was opened in 1967 by Gottlieb Löffelhardt and Richard Schmidt. Although starting as a family-oriented ...

, one of Germany's largest theme parks. Gilgun took a break in his teens, acting part-time in local and national stage productions including the

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

-based ''Hanky Park the Musical'' at

The Lowry The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex ope ...

. He played Charlie Millwall in a critically acclaimed tour of the stage play '' Borstal Boy'', which ended at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Gilgun found the break from acting difficult, telling ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' in December 2011 that " went off the fucking rails" and became confused about what to do with his life. He ended up working as a plasterer.

2006–2015: ''This is England'' franchise and ''Misfits''

He returned to acting full-time in 2006, when he won the roles of both trouble-prone Eli Dingle in long-running soap opera ''

'' and kind-hearted skinhead Woody in ''

'', his debut as a film actor. ''This Is England'' was released in the UK on 27 April 2007 and subsequently won several awards including a BAFTA for Best British Film in 2008. 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 Gilgun helping to present the cheque. Additionally, he appeared in a Dingle-centred episode of '' Ghosthunting with...'' hosted by

Yvette Fielding Yvette Paula Fielding (born 23 September 1968) is an English television presenter, producer and actress. She became the youngest presenter on ''Blue Peter'' aged 18, and one of her episodes was subsequently voted the "Favourite ''Blue Peter'' mom ...

. Gilgun was granted time off from ''Emmerdale'' to shoot the 2009 British crime thriller '' Harry Brown'', where he played drug dealer Kenny Soames. Gilgun announced he would leave ''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. Gilgun later indicated he currently had no such plans. Joe gilgun thisisengland

Gilgun reprised the character of Woody for three

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

TV spin-off series of ''This Is England'', called ''

This Is England '86 ''This Is England '86'' is a 2010 British drama miniseries written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, a spin-off from the 2006 film ''This Is England''. Set three years later, it focuses on the mod revival scene rather than the skinhead subcu ...

''. and ''

This is England '88 ''This Is England '88'' is a 2011 British drama miniseries written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne as a spin-off from the 2006 film ''This Is England''. It is also a sequel to the 2010 television sequel-series ''This Is England '86'', set two an ...

'' and '' This Is England '90'', which aired in September 2010, December 2011 and 2015 respectively. In 2010, ''This is England'' writer-director Shane Meadows referred Gilgun to star in longtime collaborator Paul Fraser's music video for the song "Dead American Writers" by Tired Pony. On 9 May 2011, it was announced that Gilgun had been cast as newcomer

in the third series of '' Misfits''. The character Rudy can manifest a clone of himself that roughly represents his conscience. He appeared in the first episode of the third series in late October 2011. He replaced as lead the character of Nathan following the departure of

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in '' Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such ...

. An online short called ''Vegas Baby'' covered Nathan Young's exit and Rudy's arrival. 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". In the following years, Gilgun appeared in the 2012 American science fiction film ''Lockout'', co-written and produced by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

and starring

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...

, the 2013 BBC series ''

Ripper Street ''Ripper Street'' is a British mystery drama television series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, and MyAnna Buring. It begins in 1889, six months after the infamous Jack the ...

'' as a

Fagin Fagin is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dod ...

-type character, Carmichael, as well as starring in the final two series of ''Misfits''. He appears in the music video for "Tiny Legs" by Then Thickens, released in 2014. Having been friends with a few members of the band from growing up around Chorley, Joe agreed to star in the video. It involved him having makeup, flour and eggs applied to his face amongst other things and took several, messy takes to get right. In 2015, Gilgun played Ellic in

Breck Eisner Michael Breckenridge Eisner (born December 24, 1970) is an American television and film director. Early life Eisner was born in California, the son of Jane Breckenridge, a business advisor and computer programmer, and Michael Eisner, the form ...

's '' The Last Witch Hunter'' alongside

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began auditio ...

, and

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Woo ...

2015–Present: Continuing work with television

In March 2015 Gilgun earned the role of drug-addicted, Irish vampire Cassidy, one of the main characters in the AMC series ''

''. Speaking of the casting of Gilgun, ''Preacher'' executive producer

Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...

said: "It's one of those things that happens only a few times throughout your career, where you just go 'Oh, it's you. You're the character that is written on the page'... You could tell Joe's lived like 100 lifetimes, and he's probably done some shit you do not want to hear about, but at the same time, he's one of the most fun, loving people you'll ever be around. And it was exactly what the character needed to be." In Spring 2015, Gilgun both filmed the pilot episode of ''Preacher'', as well as '' The Infiltrator'', a 2016 crime thriller film starring

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...

. Gilgun was part of the main cast of all four series of ''Preacher'' which premiered on 22 May 2016 and concluded on 29 September 2019. Additionally, Gilgun was also an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

of the show, producing half of its third series and all of its fourth. In 2019, Gilgun created, executive produced, and starred in the

comedy series '' Brassic''. Gilgun stars as Vinnie, a working-class petty criminal living in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

. The six-episode series premiere on 22 August 2019. The series was well-reviewed and received a second series renewal before the first series had aired. The show's third series was broadcast in October 2021. Filming for '' Brassic's'' 4th series started in August 2021. In August 2021, prior to the airing of the third series, a fourth began filming and premiered on 7 September 2022. In August 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth series, and started filming that month to premiere in 2023.

Personal life

Gilgun has developed a close relationship with his co-stars from the ''

'' stories, referring to them in interviews as "the gang". He has opened up in podcasts and various media sources about his

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...

and the effects that has had on his life. He has stated that many of the stories within the show ''Brassic'' are based upon his life.

Filmography

Film

Television

, - , 1998 , , '' Wish You Were Here...?'' , , Guest Presenter , , rowspan="2", Guest , - , 2004 , , ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' , , Marcus , - , rowspan="2", 2005 , , '' Shameless'' , , Rico , , Season 2, episode 2 , - , ''Big Dippers'' , , Carl , , Television film , - , 2006 , , '' Sorted'' , , Car Mechanic , , Season 1, episode 5 , - , 2006–2010 , , ''

'' , , Eli Dingle , , Series regular (400 episodes) , - , 2010 , , ''

'' , , rowspan="2", Richard "Woody" Woodford , , TV series (4 episodes) , - , 2011 , , ''

This Is England '88 ''This Is England '88'' is a 2011 British drama miniseries written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne as a spin-off from the 2006 film ''This Is England''. It is also a sequel to the 2010 television sequel-series ''This Is England '86'', set two an ...

'' , , TV series (3 episodes) , - , 2011–2013 , , '' Misfits'' , ,

, , TV series (series 3–5) , - , rowspan="2", 2013 , , ''

'' , , Carmichael , , Season 1, episode 2 , - , '' Coming Up'' , , Martin , , Series 8, episode 1 , - , 2015 , , '' This Is England '90'' , , Richard "Woody" Woodford , , TV series (4 episodes) , - , 2016–2019 , , ''

'' , , Cassidy , , rowspan="2", Main character, also executive producer , - , 2019–present , , '' Brassic'' , , Vincent "Vinnie" O'Neil

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Eli Dingle at ITV/''Emmerdale''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilgun, Joseph 1984 births Living people People from Chorley Male actors from Lancashire English male child actors English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male television actors People with bipolar disorder Actors with dyslexia 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors