Joe Gilgun

Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor and producer known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the Sky Max series Brassic, which he also co-created, Marcus in Hollyoaks, Eli Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Jamie Armstrong in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, Woody in the film This Is England (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series, and Rudy Wade in E4's Misfits.

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.

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.

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.

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

Gilgun revisited the set in an ITV special The Kids from Coronation Street in 2004.

Outside of odd jobs and a few roles in small theatre productions, Gilgun worked as a plasterer until returning to acting full-time with Emmerdale in 2006.

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.

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.

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.

Gilgun reprised the character of Woody for three Channel 4 TV spin-off series of This Is England, called This Is England '86.

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.

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.

and This is England '88 and This Is England '90, which aired in September 2010, December 2011 and 2015 respectively.

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.

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 and starring Guy Pearce, the 2013 BBC series Ripper Street as a Fagin-type character, Carmichael, as well as starring in the final two series of Misfits.

From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the AMC television adaptation of the Vertigo comic Preacher as the Irish vampire Cassidy.

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 Seddon and Rosie Thomson.

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.

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.

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.