Joe Cole’s career is skyrocketing to dizzying heights as he’s set to star in the BBC‘s latest nail-biting drama Nightsleeper.
Created by BAFTA-winning writer Nick Leather, the six-part series, which will make it’s debut on Sunday, is a real-time drama that sees a train hijacked and driven from Glasgow to London on a single night.
The 35-year-old actor is taking on a leading role as Joe Roag, an an off-duty cop who is unlucky enough to be on the wrong train at the wrong time.
He stars alongside alongside Alexandra Roach who portrays Abby Aysgarth, the acting technical director at the National Cyber Security Centre.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated show’s first episode, MailOnline looks inside the life of Peaky Blinders and Gangs Of London star Joe Cole – from a surprising arrest to his famous sibling and the job he had before becoming famous.
MailOnline looks inside the life of Peaky Blinders and Gangs Of London star Joe Cole, as his newest drama Nightsleeper is set to air on Sunday
Joe rose to fame as John Shelby in the gangster drama series Peaky Blinders, set in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham
Who is Joe Cole?
Joe Cole is a BAFTA-nominated English actor, who grew up in Kingston-upon-Thames, London, as the oldest of five boys.
He trained at the National Youth Theatre and began his acting career in the West End, before bagging roles on The Bill and Holby City.
The actor returned to the stage for the Bush Theatre’s School Season, before writing a comedy series with Matt Lucas in the 2010s.
He played the minor character of Luke in Skins (UK) appearing in a few episodes throughout season six.
However, Joe’s career really took off when he shot to fame in 2013 as John Shelby in the gangster drama series Peaky Blinders, set in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham.
His character was the younger brother to Cillian Murphy’s character Tommy Shelby, but left the show in 2017 so he could explore ‘new avenues and new characters and new stories’.
He told Metro in 2020: ‘With Peaky Blinders I never really got out of the gates in that role. It’s Cillian’s show really.’
Joe’s career is skyrocketing to dizzying heights as he’s set to star in the BBC’s latest nail-biting drama Nightsleeper
His character (middle) was the younger brother to Cillian Murphy’s character Tommy Shelby (right), but left the show in 2017 so he could explore ‘new avenues and new characters and new stories’
He went on to star as Sean Wallace in the hugely-successful television series Gangs Of London
Joe also stepped into the beige raincoat and thick-rimmed glasses of Harry Palmer as he revives Len Deighton’s Cold War spy for a TV remake of The Ipcress File
Following his role in the gang show, Joe has gone on to bag a variety of challenging roles.
He went on to star as Sean Wallace in the hugely-successful television series Gangs Of London.
Joe also stepped into the beige raincoat and thick-rimmed glasses of Harry Palmer as he revived Len Deighton’s Cold War spy for a TV remake of The Ipcress File.
He even picked up a BAFTA-nomination for his portrayal of Frank in the Black Mirror episode Hang The DJ.
Was Joe Cole arrested and what was his job before fame?
Joe admitted that his life could have taken a very path if he didn’t find his passion for acting, and revealed that he was once arrested.
Before his acting career took off, the Peaky Blinders star revealed he was selling carpets and coffee.
In 2022 he told The Mirror: ‘I never thought I was gonna be an actor. I had a bit of a bad break-up, I didn’t get into university, I felt very sorry for myself.
‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have, but I did. I got arrested. I was just getting up to nonsense, really.’
Joe admitted that his life could have taken a very path if he didn’t find his passion for acting, and revealed that he was once arrested
Joe (second from the left) is not the only Cole sibling to make it big and he has actually acting alongside his very famous brother, Finn Cole (far left)
Who is Joe Cole’s famous sibling?
Joe is not the only Cole sibling to make it big and he has actually acting alongside his very famous brother, Finn Cole.
Cole joined his brother in the show in 2014, as he took on the role of Michael Gray, Polly Gray’s long-lost son. He remained on the show all the way through to it’s final season.
Joe revealed that he wanted to help his younger brother kickstart his career so helped him get the role by speaking to show bosses.
He told Clash in 2014: ‘Finn always wanted to find his own path – he was very keen and showed a real energy and passion for acting.
‘He just kept nagging me. I batted him off, actually, but eventually I said, “I’ll talk to [the show’s producers] if you read the lines and you figure out the character and you learn the accent and you learn the scenes. You do the preparation, and I’ll film you doing it.”
‘He put in the work and, credit to him, he worked very hard at it and he got his just desserts.’
Finn added that he had extra stress around the time of the audition because he was still in school and didn’t have the funds to go to auditions.
He explained: ‘He got the script through and we were chatting about it and reading them together and there was a character in there that was really cool and that I really liked.
Joe (right) revealed that he wanted to help his younger brother (left) kickstart his career so helped him get the role by speaking to show bosses
Cole joined his brother in the show in 2014, as he took on the role of Michael Gray, Polly Gray’s long-lost son. He remained on the show all the way through to it’s final season
‘I never really had the intention of auditioning for it, I was still at college at the time doing my A levels and I had to concentrate on them.
‘Then the following week after I had read it, I was in college and I was really bored and I just thought “you know what? I’m going to give Joe a call and see what he says”.
‘If there’s any way of me auditioning for it that would be absolutely great and he said go up to Birmingham, they’re doing open auditions.
‘I was looking for train tickets up to Birmingham and I had no money so I couldn’t do it, and then he called me back and said why don’t we just tape an audition and I’ll send it to my agent?’.
Thankfully it worked and Finn made his debut in 2014 when he was cast as Michael Gray.
The following year saw more TV gigs for Finn as he appeared as Eric Birling in Helen Edmundson’s BBC One adaptation of An Inspector Calls and also had a guest appearance in the detective drama series Lewis.
Finn earned a new legion of fans when he took on the role of Joshua ‘J’ Cody in the American drama series Animal Kingdom from 2016 to 2022.
Film roles also soon beckoned, with Joe landing roles in 2018 comedy horror Slaughterhouse Rulez and 2020 drama Young Men.
He was cast alongside Margot Robbie in Dreamland, with the pair filming a steamy naked smooch.