Joe Thomas

Joseph Owen Thomas (born 28 October 1983) is an English actor and comedian. He played Simon Cooper in the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008–2010) and its two film adaptions, The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014). After The Inbetweeners concluded, Thomas remained connected to Channel 4, joining the cast of comedy-drama series Fresh Meat in 2011, portraying the role of Kingsley Owen until 2016. He was reunited with his The Inbetweeners colleague James Buckley when they both joined the cast of BBC Two sitcom White Gold, with Thomas portraying the role of Martin Lavender. In 2018, he starred in the comedy film The Festival. Early life and education Born in Chelmsford, Essex, as the first of four boys, Thomas attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford before reading History at Pembroke College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Thomas was a member of the Footlights, alongside his future Inbetweeners co-star Simon Bird. Bird and Thomas served as the President and the Secretary of the Footlights, respectively, in 2005–2006. Of his education, he states, "I never really recovered from the fact that the lecturers weren't paid to be nice to me. Or that the carrot-and-stick thing that happened at school no longer occurred. If you do quite well, nobody's that bothered; and if you really fuck up, nobody's that bothered. It has to be from you and I was easily distracted". Nevertheless, Thomas graduated with a 2:1 degree in History in 2006. After graduation, Thomas briefly shared a flat with Bird and fellow Pembroke graduate and Footlights alumnus Jonny Sweet.