Game of Thrones actor Joe Dempsie opens up about his early acting days, shirtless scenes and dating

Joe Dempsie is a 28 year old British actor who first broke into the scene by portraying a hedonist, Chris Miles, in TV series Skins. His fame reached another level after he starred as the skilled blacksmith, Gendry, in the hit show Game of Thrones.

Despite the early stardom he achieved at the age of 20, Joe started off like any other teenager – without a clue of what to do in the future. That's when his mom stepped in. On his mother’s suggestion, he became a member of The Television Workshop, the Nottingham acting school that has produced numerous stars of TV, film and stage.   

In an interview, he described his first experience in acting as, “I went because it was a laugh. It wasn’t something I’d considered before joining the Workshop. It wasn’t something I considered the first few years of being a member of the Workshop either."

He continued, "I just enjoyed messing around there twice a week. Every now again you’d go for an audition for a part in a TV show or a film but that was just a bonus."

After acting school, Dempsie got acting credits in medical dramas Doctors, Peak Practice and Sweet Medicine. He also featured in the movies One for the Road and Heartlands.

But his big break came in 2007, where he got the part in Skins, the E4 series about partying teenagers, where he played the loveable hedonist Chris Miles. He got nominated for a Golden Nymph at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival for Outstanding Actor – Drama Series for Skins.

Remembering his Skins legacy, Dempsie says, "Skins was such a nuts period in my life and for everyone involved. None of us expected it to kick off in the way that it did. I think only now, with the return of some of the old characters for the new series, we can take a step back from it all and realise quite how much people did love that show and how much they loved the characters."

After Skins, Joe is now known for playing Gendry in Game of Thrones. He had his say regarding the shirtless, nudity antics as Gendry in the series in an interview with Rollingstone.com. He said," I don't really want to do nudity unless it's appropriate, and unless it's relevant to the storyline and it makes sense to do it in the scene."

The 28 year old is a Nottingham Forest football fan and is also a huge admirer of Kanye West. He has multiple hit TV series casting and Clearasil advertisements in the UK helping the actor rack up a net worth of $1 million. It also helped him have 119 thousand twitter followers. And the actor was also rumored to be dating Skins co-star Larissa Wilson.

Finally, the actor revealed his reasons in selection of movies and his aspirations in the acting industry. He said, " 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."

He added, " 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."

It's difficult to say if he will reach to the caliber of a Daniel Day-Lewis. But he certainly has had a good head start.