‘I fail at being an adult’: The Inbetweeners’ Simon on why he is STILL playing students despite being 34
EIGHT years ago he played nerdy teenager Simon in the hit sitcom The Inbetweeners, who hilariously failed to get it up when he tried to lose his virginity to girlfriend Tara.
But fast-forward a decade and Joe Thomas - who at the age of 34 still looks like a teenager - is now engaged to Hannah Tointon, who played his disappointed love interest.
And the couple are about to hit the screen together again in their new film, The Festival, where he plays a graduate in his early twenties and Hannah plays his ex.
Despite being in his 30s, Joe usually plays characters who are a decade younger - having recently starred as a university student in comedy Fresh Meat.
But his most iconic performance is as nerdy Simon - where he played a 17-year-old at the age of 24.
And Joe says he doesn't find it difficult to get into the mindset of a younger person.
"I'm like that in real life - and have had experience of trying to be an adult and failing - so I love playing that sort of part.
"Comedy tends to be about people who are trying to be adults - they want to be serious but it all tends to collapse around them," he explains.
"In a way, that's what life is about - so that's why you tend to have these kinds of characters in sitcoms."
With The Inbetweeners, which followed the exploits of four geeky sixth formers, pulling in over two million viewers in its heyday and being the focus of two successful spin-off films, it's no surprise that Joe is still mainly known for playing nerdy Simon.
Shouts of "bus w****nker", "oooh, friend!" and "you bumder" as he walks down the street
In fact, he tells Sun Online he often walks down the street to cries of Inbetweeners catchphrases "bus w****nker", "oooh, friend!" and "you bumder".
"I get people coming up to me a lot in the street calling me Simon," Joe admits.
"And often people will shout quotes at me too, even ones I sometimes don't even recognise from the show because it was so long ago."
And while you think this might bother him, Joe tells Sun Online he actually finds it "fantastic".
"It's a nice thing, as it means they liked the show," he says.
"I find it moving that we made a comedy that had such as place in people's hearts, and I feel hugely privileged to have been a part of The Inbetweeners".
Stripping off naked and punching a fish
Joe's character, the nice-yet-hapless Simon struggled to have any luck with the ladies.
He was regularly the butt of jokes - following Jay's terrible sex advice, which led to the virginity incident when Tara threw him out of her house and told him "to never contact me again".
The hopeless romantic also had a longstanding crush on childhood friend Carli D'Amato, and despite pathetic attempts to hook up with her, he refused to give up - even after being rejected by her in favour of a tour guide in the first Inbetweeners film.
And after flirting with a new student, Lauren, on a field trip to Swanage, he fell off a boat in front of his whole class while his pal Neil punched a fish to death.
Real life romance
However in real life, Joe's love life is thriving.
In 2010 Joe and Hannah took their relationship off-screen, moving into a flat together in Central London and they reportedly got engaged last year.
But Hannah isn't the only actor from the show he's stayed in touch with.
Last year he reunited with James Buckley, who played Jay in The Inbetweeners for the BBC Two show White Gold, where they played a pair of hapless window salesmen.
And he still sees Simon Bird (Will) and Blake Harrison (Neil) regularly, with the four of them often meeting for meals out and drinks.
"I see them all the time," Joe says. "When we did The Inbetweeners we were at a formative point in our careers and we have a special bond.
"When I meet up with them, we slip right back in to exactly how we used to be."
No Inbetweeners reunions in the pipeline
But, despite pal James Buckley recently teasing fans about a "fourth series" - and their close friendship - there's no plans for an on-screen reunion.
"The Inbetweeners did so well as it was so dynamic and new, and I'm really proud of it," says Joe.
"But I think in terms of my career, it's important to keep striving to do something different and fresh.
"I love those guys, but I've always wanted to work with new people and continue to be influenced and learn from them."
New star turn in a coming-of-age film about festivals
The Festival is a coming-of-age film with an Inbetweeners connection, having being written by the BAFTA award-winning writers and producers behind the show, Iain Morris and Damon Beesley.
Joe plays Nick, a bloke in his early twenties who is dumped at his university graduation and reluctantly taken to a music festival by his best pals.
And his fiancé is playing his ex-girlfriend Caitlin in the movie, whose dumping of Nick prompts him to have a meltdown in front of his classmates.
However, the couple are private, with Joe only saying that Hannah is "very very funny on set".
"She was able to handle a part that wasn't as off-the-chain as other characters she's played in the past." he adds.
"And on the whole, the rest of my co-stars - which include Flight of the Conchords' Jermaine Clement and Noel Fielding - were such a funny gang of people that were a great group to spend time with."
"I would take my mum to festivals with me"
Although much of the movie was filmed at last year's Leeds Festival - with the crowd used as extras - like his character Nick, Joe is a reluctant festival-goer.
"I used to go to V Festival because it was near where my parents used to live - which meant I could go back for a hot shower and a home-cooked meal," he says.
"In effect, it meant I was basically taking my mum to festivals with me."
"Nick can't face going to the festival initially," adds Joe. "He doesn't like the idea of the toilets or camping, which is how I feel about them.
"I think with me, it stems from seeing Blur at a festival with my dad as a kid.
"I was on his shoulders but still couldn't see the stage. I just didn't understand what this experience was or what it was supposed to be.
"This coloured my perception of what festivals were like - I've never been a massive festival head."
However, Joe says he was attracted to the film as he felt the writers had "nailed it".
"Festivals are so ripe for comedy, and everyone who has ever been to one has so many stories about what a crazy time it was - I felt they'd really got what it was all about.
"This is something that hasn't been covered in this way before - usually festival films are about the bands or the spiritual aspect, not the reality of what they're really like."
He adds that comedy needs to find "new territory" to move into.
"I think the idea of the music festival idea being used in this way is a part of this," says Joe. "It's the one time of year where people cut loose and it is a breeding ground for funny jokes."
The Festival is in cinemas nationwide from 14th August