Joe Dempsie

{{Infobox person

| name = Joe Dempsie

| image = Joe Dempsie Paris (cropped).jpg

| caption = Dempsie in 2018

| other_names =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Liverpool, Merseyside, England

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 2000–present

}}

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{{ndash}}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).

Early life and education

Joseph Maxwell Dempsie{{cn|date=January 2025}} was born in Liverpool. His father was a social worker and his mother an educational psychologist.{{cite web |title=Joe Dempsie: 'The Red Wedding Was Harrowing' |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/joe-dempsie-game-of-thrones-season-6 |website=GQ UK |access-date=4 July 2020}} He grew up in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.{{cite news|url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/its-like-leaving-school-notts-2819024|title='It's like leaving school' – Notts actor Joe Dempsie on saying goodbye to Game of Thrones and his new TV role in Deep State|first1=Georgia|last1=Humphreys|first2=Simon|last2=Wilson|newspaper=Nottingham Post|date=1 May 2019|access-date=11 August 2019}}

He was educated at West Bridgford School, and received acting training from the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham.{{cite news |last=Sansome |first=Jessica |date=10 July 2017 |title=Who is Joe Dempsie? 13 things you need to know about the Game of Thrones actor |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/who-joe-dempsie-13-things-181838 |work=Nottingham Post |access-date=22 July 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722173641/https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/who-joe-dempsie-13-things-181838 |archive-date=22 July 2017}}

Career

Dempsie has been the voice of the Clearasil advertisements in the UK.{{Citation|last=skinsonline|title=Joe Dempsie Clearasil Voice Over 2|date=2008-01-26|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf5jVimrPTg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/bf5jVimrPTg |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|access-date=2019-04-30}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=http://fanworld.co/5-cute-facts-you-did-not-know-about-joe-dempsie/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301073310/http://fanworld.co/5-cute-facts-you-did-not-know-about-joe-dempsie/|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2017|title=5 Cute Facts You Did Not Know About Joe Dempsie {{!}} Fan World|date=2017-02-28|website=fanworld.co |access-date=2019-04-30}} In episode 6 of the fourth series of Doctor Who, "The Doctor's Daughter", that aired on 10 May 2008, Dempsie played the character Cline,{{cite magazine |date=April 2008 |title=Saturday 10 May |magazine=Radio Times |issue=10–16 May 2008 |page=68 |publisher=BBC }} a soldier who watches his comrades die.{{cite web |first=Beth |last=Hilton |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/cult/a92765/skins-star-to-appear-in-doctor-who/ |title='Skins' star to appear in 'Doctor Who' |publisher=Digital Spy |date=1 April 2008 |access-date=2024-12-29}} On 18 April 2008, Dempsie appeared on Friday Night Project with Geri Halliwell.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080424204352/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/F/fnp/galleries/series6_ep5/index.html Friday Night Project on Channel 4] On 20 July 2008, he appeared at T4 on the Beach in Weston Super Mare alongside fellow Skins cast members. He appeared as Duncan McKenzie in 2009's The Damned United alongside Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Graham and Timothy Spall. In November 2008, he appeared in The Moment of Truth, episode 10 of the BBC show Merlin. He plays Will, who is an old friend of Merlin's, from the village in which they grew up together.

In 2010, he voiced Steven, a gay teenager from Nottinghamshire in the Radio 4 play Once Upon a Time. He plays the character of Gendry Baratheon in HBO's series Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels.{{cite web|author=Take a Bow 10 August 2010 at 10:12 PM |url=http://grrm.livejournal.com/173074.html |title=Not A Blog – Take a Bow |publisher=Grrm.livejournal.com |date=10 August 2010 |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318141227/http://grrm.livejournal.com/173074.html |archive-date=18 March 2012 }} He appeared in the first three, seventh and eighth of its eight seasons. He also appeared in the Channel 4 mini-series This Is England '86, as well as the follow-ups This Is England '88 and This Is England '90. He has also appeared in Harry & Paul on BBC Two, appearing as a northerner who was presented as a gift from the character Harry was playing to his daughter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/harry_and_paul/episodes/3/3/|title=Harry & Paul Harry & Paul – Series 3, Episode 3|publisher=British Comedy Guide |access-date=2019-05-09}} Recently he has appeared in the BBC Three series The Fades (episodes 3 to 6), as John.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015j0ng/The_Fades_Episode_3/ |title=BBC iplayer credits |publisher=BBC |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=4 October 2012}}

In January 2021, it was announced that Dempsie was cast as Nick in the upcoming Netflix thriller series Pieces of Her, which is adapted from the Karin Slaughter novel of the same name.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/pieces-of-her-netflix-cast-1234894235/|title=Omari Hardwick, Jessica Barden, Joe Dempsie Among Five Cast in Netflix Series 'Pieces of Her'|magazine=Variety|first=Joe|last=Otterson|date= 28 January 2021|access-date=9 February 2021}}

Personal life

As of 2015, Dempsie was residing in London.{{cite web|url=http://www.nottinghampost.com/Games-Thrones-star-Joe-Dempsie-life-career/story-26130405-detail/story.html|title=Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie on his life and career |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717011559/http://www.nottinghampost.com/Games-Thrones-star-Joe-Dempsie-life-career/story-26130405-detail/story.html|archive-date=17 July 2015}}

He is a Nottingham Forest F.C. fan.{{cite news |last=Reis |first=Bruna |date=28 March 2022 |title=Game of Thrones actor raves about Nottingham Forest being 'a great side' |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/game-of-thrones-nottingham-forest-6869672 |work=Nottingham Post |access-date=28 March 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328220738/https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/game-of-thrones-nottingham-forest-6869672 |archive-date=28 March 2022}}

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable"
style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
2002 \| Heartlands	Craig
2003 \| One for the Road	'TWOC'er (Joyrider)
2008 \| Listen to the Words	Tim
rowspan=2 \| 2009 \| Spirited	Dean	Short film
The Damned United	Duncan McKenzie
rowspan=2 \| 2010 \| Edge (film)\|Edge	Philip
Lucy Island''	David
rowspan=3 \| 2011 \| Blitz	Theo Nelson
Happy Clapper	Marshy	rowspan=2 \| Short films
Cardinal	Pride
2014 \| Monsters: Dark Continent	Frankie Maguire
2015 \| Burn Burn Burn	James
rowspan=2 \| 2016 \| Deep Swimmer	Mark Kennedy
Madly	(unknown)	Segment: 'I Do'
rowspan=3 \| 2017 \| StarGirl	Meteor Hunter 2	Short film
Dark River	David
Come Out of the Woods	Ally	Short film
2018 \| Been So Long	Kestrel
2019 \| Eighteen Weeks	Craig Tomlin	rowspan=3 \| Short films
2020 \| Aftertaste	Alfie
2023 \| Soulmate	Neil
2024 \| Addition	Seamus

=Television=

class="wikitable"
style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
2000 \| Peak Practice	Leon	Episode: "Playing God"
2001 \| Doctors	Lee Lindsay	Episode: "Sins of the Brother"
2003 \| Sweet Medicine	Ben Campbell	Episode 2
2004 \| Doctors	Danny	Episode: "Rabbit in the Headlights"
2005 \| Born and Bred	Humphrey 'Bogie' Locke	Episode: "Community Spirits"
2006 \| To Kill a Burglar: The Tony Martin Story	Fred Barras	Television film
2007–2008 \| Skins	Chris Miles	19 episodes
rowspan=2 \| 2008 \| Doctor Who	Cline	Episode: "The Doctor's Daughter"
Merlin	William	Episode: "The Moment of Truth"
rowspan=2 \| 2010 \| This Is England '86	Higgy	Mini-series; 3 episodes
Devil in the Fog	George Treet / George Dexter	Mini-series; 2 episodes
2011–2019 \| Game of Thrones	Gendry Baratheon	24 episodes
rowspan=2 \| 2011 \| The Fades	John	Mini-series; 4 episodes
Moving On	Kieran Murphy	Episode: "The Poetry of Silence"
rowspan=2 \| 2012 \| Murder	Stefan	Mini-series; episode: "Joint Enterprise"
Accused	Martin Cormack	Episode: "Mo's Story"
2013 \| Southcliffe	Chris Cooper	Mini-series; 3 episodes
2014 \| New Worlds	Ned Hawkins	Mini-series; 4 episodes
rowspan=2 \| 2015 \| The Gamechangers	Jamie King	One-off docudrama
This Is England '90	Higgy	Mini-series; 3 episodes
rowspan=2 \| 2016 \| Ellen	Jason	Television film
Retribution / One of Us	Rob Elliot	Mini-series; 4 episodes
2018–2019 \| Deep State	Harry Clarke	16 episodes
2020 \| Adult Material \| Rich \| 4 episodes
2021 \| Love, Death & Robots \| Laird (voice) \| Episode: "The Tall Grass"
rowspan=2 \| 2022 \| Pieces of Her \| Nick \| Main cast. Mini-series; 7 episodes
The Love Box in Your Living Room \| (unknown) \| Television film
rowspan=2 \| 2024 \| Showtrial \| DI Miles Southgate \| 5 episodes
Get Millie Black \| Luke Holborn \| Mini-series; 5 episodes
2025 \| Toxic Town \| Derek Mahon \| Mini-series; 4 episodes

=Radio=

class="wikitable"
style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Station
2009 \| Black Hearts in Battersea	Simon	BBC Radio 4
rowspan=2 \| 2010 \| Once Upon a Time	Steven	BBC Radio 4
The Rain Maker	Son	BBC Radio 4
2013 \| Saturday Night and Sunday Morning	Arthur Seaton	BBC Radio 4
rowspan=2 \| 2016 \| The Beach (Book at Bedtime)	Narrator	BBC Radio 4
Waiting for the Boatman	Cecco	BBC Radio 4