Date of Birth

22 December 1987, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Birth Name

Joseph Maxwell Dempsie

Height

5' 7½" (1.71 m)

Mini Biography

Joseph Maxwell Dempsie is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama Skins (2007-2008) and Gendry Baratheon in Game of Thrones (2011-2013; 2017-2019). Dempsie's earlier acting credits include the medical dramas Peak Practice (2000), Doctors (2001-2003), and Sweet Medicine (2003), as well as the films One for the Road and Heartlands (2003). He also appeared in This is England '86 (2010) and This is England '90 (2015), Born and Bred, a BBC documentary-drama about Tony Martin, and as the villainous John in The Fades (2011).

Trivia

• Joe Dempsie was educated at The West Bridgford School in Nottingham. He is a keen Nottingham Forest (soccer) fan.

Quotes

• Casting young people is always so difficult, and they got it so right in 'Game of Thrones.' All the young actors are amazingly talented and so professional.
• HBO spent a huge amount of money on 'Game Of Thrones,' and it won't be able to keep spending the money if it can't make it back from people watching it legitimately. It will have an effect on the quality of the programme.
• I still don't get stopped about anything else anywhere near as much as 'Skins.' The remarkable thing that I've noticed is how far that show has traveled: it's aired all over the world.
• I'm a big fan of unflinching drama and bold drama. If you shy away from dark subject matters, there's only certain places for TV drama to go. If there are shows that can break through that and be brave, those are the shows that I personally enjoy watching. I try and do work that I would watch.
• I admire actors that consistently challenge themselves and play a wide range of different roles. Every actor has a reason for being an actor... it's boring to play the same person over and over again. People like Daniel Day-Lewis, who completely transform time and time again, I look up to.
• America has always fascinated me; it's a country where you can make it from one side to the other with no money, by hook or by crook.
• Concept is what makes actors raise their game.
• When I was cast as Gendry, I didn't have any of the physical attributes the part required. I was astounded that I got the role, to be honest.
• Audiences in every medium are becoming far more savvy. No one goes to watch a Tom Cruise movie any more just because it's starring Tom Cruise.
• I'm the kind of person who, if I can't get something right, I get quite frustrated with myself.
• 'Southcliffe' is an anthem to ordinary people's ability to reinvent themselves in the face of ultimate darkness.
• I've always been a sucker for a dog called an Alaskan Malamute. It's like a little husky... my dad had one when he was younger.
• I'm Cancer and Gemini cusp, so I read both and pick the one I like best. I read horoscopes but claim not to believe any of it.
• Street-casting - people like Katie Jarvis in 'Fish Tank,' spotted having a row with her boyfriend on a railway platform - has helped make actors raise their game. They have to.
• I suppose you've got to look like you're made of steel for nudity. You've got to get some arms on you.
• There are dedicated actors and there are people now who only stay famous for putting on weight, losing it, then putting it on again.
• It's amazing what a bit of soot and shaving can do for muscle definition, honestly.
• Audiences in every medium are becoming far more savvy. No one goes to watch a Tom Cruise movie any more just because it's starring Tom Cruise. No one gives a toss. Concept is what makes actors raise their game. Everyone's on merit now.
• Self-consciousness can destroy a performance. Getting rid of that is always good.
• I enjoyed acting at school and went to an acting workshop for kids in Nottingham. It was twice a week after school and free to go to - ITV subsidised it. Every now and again, a casting director would turn up. 'Peak Practice' became a rite of passage for us. It was the first job I had.
• 'Skins' had been a brilliant breeding ground for young actors, young directors and young writers. It was a safe environment to experiment; it tried new things, and it was an amazing time and amazing to be part of it.
• That's been one of the best things about doing 'Game of Thrones.' My social circle in London has more or less doubled just by doing it because nearly everyone is based in London. And I hadn't long moved to London before doing it, so it's been really great in terms of meeting people to hang out with while I'm there.
• It's bizarre, that feeling as an actor, at being in the mecca of the film world and seeing billboards for a TV show that you're in pretty much everywhere.