The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas has revealed his secret health battle for the first time, as well as his “breakdown” caught on camera.
Thomas, 41, starred in the show alongside Simon Bird, James Buckley and Blake Harrison over three series between 2008 and 2010.
And he instantly skyrocketed to fame as a result, with many fans of The Inbetweeners very much looking forward to the hit UK sitcom making a comeback next year.
Now, in a chat with co-star James Buckley on their podcast Joe And James Fact Up, The Inbetweeners stars have given an insight into filming the show.
During the chat, Thomas revealed he battled obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
He said to Buckley: “There was loads of pressure. I felt tons of pressure. I also just had crippling OCD and I kept thinking I’d f***** up the continuity”.
“I kept turning up to sound being like ‘I’m so sorry just worried that I might have made a noise with my chair,’ and they were like, ‘Joe, it’s fine, we’ll let you know.’
“It was just generally astonishing OCD … I had it when I left university and when I was on The Inbetweeners it was really, really bad to the extent where they paid for a therapist to come on set and she thought it was a joke.
“Because it was a Channel 4 show, she thought it was like a candid camera show and it was a stitch up.
“Also it wasn’t discussed that much at the time, so it was just like ‘I’m completely insane” and I need to deal with this privately in these little nine second breaks that I was asking for and somehow pull my head together.’”
Thomas praised the show’s creator Iain Morris, and said he noticed him aggressively blinking on set.
The star added: “I felt seen, that is what it is … There were times I was just annoyed I was making the show because I wanted to get back to my own private worries”.
Buckley responded to Thomas’ confession by saying: “You’ve been through a handful of twitches since I’ve known you as well. Unfairly, this became a DVD extra at one point where Joe was having a breakdown”.
“It was on the first Inbetweeners film, there’s an out-take where Joe’s having a break down … He says can I just have 10 seconds and then he goes ‘well that did absolutely nothing.’”
Despite the show being a very jokey one, that saw the stars having a lot of fun with it on set, the actors also admitted that it came with big pressures.
Thomas went on: “I was always asking for these short breaks where I’d try really, really quickly get my entire head together”.
“I’d be like: ‘It’ll take about six or nine seconds … Can I just … I can’t do it.’”
Buckley added: “It was stressful … But we also did put so much pressure on ourselves. It’s really ironic when you think about it, but there was such a pressure to be funny. We were obsessed with being funny”.
“There was always funny stuff in the script, but even when you’re not saying lines I was like ‘well I’ve got to be doing something funny right now’.
“There was just this immense pressure of being funny.”
The Sun first revealed the popular program is set to return next year with all four of the original lead stars keen to sign up for the new project.
And speaking exclusively to The Sun in October, on behalf of Quizlet, Thomas – who played Simon Cooper – confessed he’s definitely up for being part of the reboot, even if it remains uncertain just what direction production companies Banijay UK and Fudge Park are going to take it.
He said: “I feel enormously close to all those people and, obviously, I love spending time with them. If there was an opportunity to spend more time with them in any capacity, I’d love that … that’s pretty much all I can say.”
And despite the pressures to be funny, Thomas and Buckley admitted they had the time of their lives on set.
Buckley said: “As much fun as we had making The Inbetweeners, and we did have such a laugh it was the best job in the world.
“Sadly I just haven’t had as much fun working on anything else than I have done on the Inbetweeners.
“For me personally, I think the second Inbetweeners film we had a lot more fun because we were all like ‘this is the last time we’re gonna do this so let’s have fun, let’s not get so wrapped dup in the stuff we usually worry about.’”
The new deal has effectively given show writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris the green light to work on more material for the loveable rogues.
Thomas trusts their writing implicitly and is happy to go along with whatever the duo decide to do next.
He said: “I’ve always been really, really drawn to brilliant writing and I genuinely think, despite filthy language, The Inbetweeners is a brilliantly written comedy.
“They’re much more difficult to do than people think, so, honestly, if it was a case of doing more I do have faith in Iain and Damon. It’s their show actually. I mean I’m very much a follow the people person.”
But he also warned that now the fictional schoolboys are all grown up, there’s a risk the show might not be as funny.
He continued: “I think wisdom does not make a very good narrative”.
“The Inbetweeners is full of characters who are delusional to a large extent.
“It’s a show about delusion; Simon is naive and romantic and thinks that he’s going to have this love story; and Will is pompous, he’s intellectually delusional; Neil’s obviously stupid; and Jay’s clearly delusional … he thinks that he’s this kind of sex god when actually he’s just this very vulnerable young man.
“When you get older, your delusions fall away, you look at life as it is. It means you get into less stupid situations I suppose, also the challenges get bigger; you can make larger mistakes when you get older.”
Indeed, dad-of-two Thomas is 41 now and at a very different stage of life than the teen he is best known for portraying.
This story first appeared in the The Sun and was republished with permission.
