| Born | Joseph William Gilgun 9 March 1984 (age 36) Chorley, Lancashire, England |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor, Produser |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Zodiac | Pisces |
| Height | 6’0″ (183 cm) |
| Weight | 73 – 75 kg |
| Bodytype | Slim |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Hazel |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Nationality | English |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| sexual orientation | straight |
Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor known for several roles, including that of Eli Dingle in ITV‘s Emmerdale, Jamie Armstrong in Coronation Street Woody in the film This Is England (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series and Rudy Wade in E4‘s Misfits. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the AMC television adaptation of the Vertigo comic Preacher as the Irish vampire Cassidy.
Early life
Gilgun was born in Chorley, Lancashire, to Judith and Andrew Gilgun. He grew up in Rivington, Lancashire, as part of a working-class family with his two younger sisters, Jennie and Rosie.[2] Gilgun attended Rivington VA Primary School and Southlands High School. He has dyslexia and ADHD, which he describes as the “biggest pain of [his] life” and in interviews has openly discussed depression and anxiety.[3][4] He started drama workshops at the age of eight, following advice from an educational psychologist, and was described as having “exceptional talent”. He also trained at the Laine Johnson Theatre School and the Oldham Theatre Workshop.[5] When he was 10, he got his first TV acting role in Coronation Street. He stayed with the show until he was thirteen years old.
Gilgun studied A Levels at Runshaw College.[6]Outside of odd jobs and a few roles in small theater productions, Gilgun worked as a plasterer until returning to acting full-time with Emmerdale in 2006.
Career
1994–2006: Early career
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 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, one of Germany’s largest theme parks.[7]
Gilgun took a break in his teens, acting part-time in local and national stage productions including the Salford-based Hanky Park the Musical at The Lowry.[8][9] He played Charlie Millwall in a critically acclaimed tour of the stage play Borstal Boy, which ended at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[10]
Gilgun found the break from acting 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.[11]
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 Emmerdale and kind-hearted skinhead Woody in This Is England, 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.[12][13][14][15]
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.[16] Additionally, he appeared in a Dingle-centred episode of Ghosthunting with… hosted by Yvette Fielding.
Gilgun was granted time off from Emmerdale to shoot the 2009 British crime thriller Harry Brown, where he played drug dealer Kenny Soames.[17][18][19][20] 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.[21] Gilgun later indicated he currently had no such plans.[22]
Joe Gilgun on the set of This Is England.
Gilgun reprised the character of Woody for three Channel 4 TV spin-off series of This Is England, called This Is England ’86.[23] and This is England ’88[24] 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.[citation needed]
On 9 May 2011, it was announced that Gilgun had been cast as newcomer Rudy Wade 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. An online short called Vegas Baby covered Nathan Young‘s exit and Rudy’s arrival.[26] 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”.[11]
In the following years, Gilgun appeared in the 2012 American science fiction film Lockout, co-written and produced by Luc Besson and starring Guy Pearce,[27] the 2013 BBC series Ripper Street as a Fagin-type character, Carmichael, as well as starring in the final two series of Misfits.[28] 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.[29]
In 2015, Gilgun played Ellic in Breck Eisner‘s The Last Witch Hunter alongside Michael Caine, Vin Diesel, and Elijah Wood.
2015–Present: Continuing work with television
In March 2015 Gilgun earned the role of drug-addict vampire Cassidy, one of the main characters in the AMC series Preacher.[30] Speaking of the casting of Gilgun, Preacher executive producer Seth Rogen 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.”[31]
In Spring 2015, Gilgun both filmed the pilot episode of Preacher, as well as The Infiltrator, a 2016 crime film starring Bryan Cranston.
Gilgun was part of the main cast all four seasons of Preacher which premiered on May 22, 2016 and concluded on September 29, 2019. Additionally, Gilgun was also an executive producer of the show, producing half of its third season and all of its fourth.
In 2019, Gilgun created, executive produced, and starred in the Sky One comedy series Brassic. Gilgun stars as Vinnie, a working-class petty criminal living in Northern England. The six-episode series premiere on August 22, 2019. The series was well-reviewed and received a second season renewal before the first season had aired.[32][33]
Personal Life
- Joe Gilgun has stated that he does not own a nice car or a fancy house and has two bikes instead. But now he has bought an apartment and lives separately.
- He once lived a dilapidated cottage in the woods and entered it through a skylight. He decided to live there and had to pitch a tent inside it as there was a big hole in the ceiling. He is now decorating the place with his mother and sisters, it his mather’s home.
- Gilgun maintains a strict schedule he goes to bed at nine and comes to work punctually with his lines prepared.
- His friends from ‘This is England’ are his closest friends. He is not in a relationship. He says that he is on Tinder but doesn’t think anyone would like to date a person like him.
Trivia
- Joe Gilgun has said that he hates having a mobile phone and social networks. Joe doesn’t have email and social networks
- Joe has some great tattoos on his arms. Every single tattoo has its own story, emotions and memories. His tattoos are more than just inked pictures – they represent a story of his life. His biggest tattoo is probably a magpie and the words “ab imo pectore” (Engl.: from the bottom of my heart) inked on his chest / look in Instagram #joegilguntattoo
Gilgun net worth and salary
Joseph Gilgun is seen as a rising star currently because of his role in “Preacher”. He has been in the industry for a while now, but it is his latest and current roles that are helping him get more ntion and also bigger pays. This brought to an increase in his total net worth in recent years. He is currently estimated to be worth about 1.2 million dollars, a figure which will probably increase in the forthcoming future if he continues the way he has been doing right now.
Joe Gilgun girlfriend and family
Joseph Gilgun is not married nor does he have any children. It is uncertain that he has a girlfriend now and if he does he is doing a pretty good job hiding it. But in the past Joseph was romantically involved with a co-star from “Emmerdale”, Vicky McClure. They had a heated love affair while they were together and Joseph even has a tattoo on his arm referencing her. Unfortunately, they broke up and there has been no indications if they are going to get back together ever.
Joe Giglun condition
When Joseph Gilgun was young, he was diagnosed with both dyslexia and ADHD. This took a toll on his behavior and personal life. He stated that he also suffer from depression and anxiety in his early youth. At the beginning of 2012, he was belatedly diagnosed with 2 types of bipolar disorder, with which Joe fights constantly, taking prescribed medications and undergoing psychotherapy. Joe is also entitled to smoking marijuana for medical purposes. Previously, due to an inaccurate diagnosis, he took medications that were unsuitable for him, which caused his condition to worsen. From stress, Joe lost his hair, and later his eye was 80% blind.
Skills
ACCENTS & DIALECTS: Lancashire (native), Manchester, Northern, Yorkshire
SPORTS: Boxing, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Horse-Riding
OTHER: Graffiti
Filmography
Joe Gilgun in 2019
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | This Is England | Richard “Woody” Woodford | |
| 2009 | Harry Brown | Kenneth “Kenny” Soames | |
| 2010 | Top of the Range | Joe | Short (10 minutes) |
| 2011 | Screwed | Karl | |
| 2012 | Lockout | Hydell | |
| 2013 | Tennis | Jerry | Short (23 minutes) |
| 2014 | Pride | Mike Jackson | |
| 2015 | The Last Witch Hunter | Ellic | |
| 2016 | The Infiltrator | Dominic |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–1997 | Coronation Street | Jamie Armstrong | |
| 1998 | Wish You Were Here…? | Guest Presenter | |
| 2004 | Hollyoaks | Marcus | Guest |
| 2005 | Shameless | Rico | Season 2, episode 2 |
| Big Dippers | Carl | TV film | |
| 2006 | Sorted | Car Mechanic | Season 1, episode 5 |
| 2006–2010 | Emmerdale | Eli Dingle | |
| 2010 | This Is England ’86 | Richard “Woody” Woodford | TV series (4 episodes) |
| 2011 | This Is England ’88 | Richard “Woody” Woodford | TV series (3 episodes) |
| 2011–2013 | Misfits | Rudy Wade | Series 3 to Series 5 |
| 2013 | Ripper Street | 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 | Preacher | Cassidy | Main character, also executive producer |
| 2019–present | Brassic | Vincent “Vinnie” O’Neil | Main character, also executive producer |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Film or series | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nominated | British Independent Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor/Actress | This is England | Woody |
| 2007 | Nominated | British Soap Awards | Best Newcomer | Emmerdale | Eli Dingle |
| Nominated | National Television Awards | Most Popular Newcomer | |||
| Nominated | TV Quick and TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Newcomer | |||
| 2008 | Nominated | Digital Spy Awards | Villain of the Year | ||
| 2012 | Won | Virgin Media TV Awards | Best Newbie | Misfits | Rudy Wade |
| Won | SFX Awards | Breakout Star | |||
| Nominated | BAFTA Television Award | Best Actor | This Is England ’88 | Woody |
Joe‘s Fans 