Joseph Gilgun

Joseph William "Joe" Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor best known for playing Eli Dingle in ITV's Emmerdale, Woody in the film This Is England and its subsequent TV spin-offs, and Rudy Wade in E4's Misfits. He will appear as a main character in the AMC television adaption of the popular Vertigo comic Preacher as the charismatic Irish Vampire Cassidy. Biography Gilgun was born in Chorley, Lancashire, to mother Judith and father Andrew. He has two younger sisters: Jennie and Rosie. He attended Rivington VA Primary School and Southlands High School. He also trained at the Laine Johnson Theatre School and the Oldham Theatre Workshop. He has both 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". When he was 10, he got his first TV acting role in Coronation Street. He stayed until he was 13. Gilgun studied art at Runshaw College. He started a degree in fashion design, but found it too academic. He was a plasterer, until returning to acting full-time with Emmerdale. He has developed a close relationship with his co-stars from the This Is England stories, referring to them in interviews as "the gang". Gilgun also has a tattoo of the name 'Lol' across his hand dedicated to the character closest to him in This Is England. TV and stage work 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. Gilgun revisited the set in an ITV special The Kids from Coronation Street in 2004. Gilgun took a break in his teens, acting part-time in local and national stage productions including the Manchester-based Hanky Park the Musical at the Lowry. He played Charlie Millwall in a tour of the stage play Borstal Boy, which ended at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Critics liked the production. He found the break 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. He returned to acting full-time in 2006, when he won the roles of both Woody in This Is England (see Film Work below) and trouble-prone Eli Dingle in Emmerdale. 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. Gilgun later indicated he currently had no such plans. Gilgun reprised the character of Woody for two Channel 4 TV spin-off series of This Is England, called This Is England '86. and This is England '88  which aired in September 2010 and December 2011 respectively. Film career Gilgun's debut as a film actor was as the kind-hearted skinhead Woody in This Is England, which he completed filming shortly before he started on Emmerdale. A semi-autobiographical feature film written and directed by Shane Meadows, it was released in the UK on 27 April 2007 and subsequently won several awards including a BAFTA for Best British Film in 2008. Gilgun was granted time off from Emmerdale to shoot the British crime thriller Harry Brown, where he played drug dealer Kenny Soames. Harry Brown was released on 11 November 2009. In 2010, it was reported that he had been offered a role in the superhero film Kick-Ass starring Nicolas Cage, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with Emmerdale. Gilgun plays Hydell in US sci-fi film Lockout, co-written and produced by Luc Besson and starring Guy Pearce. It was released on 13 April 2012.