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Joe Anders
American-British actor (born 2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes[1][2] (born December 22, 2003),[3] known professionally as Joe Anders, is an American-British actor. He is the son of actress Kate Winslet and film director Sam Mendes, and the younger half-brother of actress Mia Threapleton. He made his film debut with a small part in the war drama 1917 (2019), and has appeared in the television drama film I Am Ruth (2022), in the biographical war drama Lee (2023), and had his first leading role in the musical coming-of-age romantic comedy Bonus Track (2023). He also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming film Goodbye June, his mother's directorial debut.
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Early life
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Anders was born in New York City on December 22, 2003,[3][4] to British actress Kate Winslet and British film director Sam Mendes.[5][6] His parents divorced in 2010, when he was six years old.[7] His father identifies as a secular Jew.[8] He has three half-siblings; an older half-sister from his mother's first marriage to painter-filmmaker Jim Threapleton, actress Mia Threapleton (born 2000);[4] a younger half-brother (born 2013) from his mother's third marriage to English businessman Edward Abel Smith;[4] and a younger half-sister (born 2017) from his father's second marriage to English trumpet player Alison Balsom.[9] His step-father, Edward Abel Smith, is the former head of marketing promotion and astronaut experience at Virgin Galactic and the nephew of the company's co-founder, English business mogul Richard Branson.[10] After marrying Winslet in 2012, Abel Smith became a stay-at-home dad helping her raise her children.[11]
His maternal grandmother worked as a nanny and waitress, and his maternal grandfather was a struggling actor who took labouring jobs to support the family.[12][13] His maternal great-grandparents were both actors and ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company.[14] His paternal grandfather, Jameson Peter Mendes, was a Roman Catholic University professor[15] of Portuguese descent from Trinidad and Tobago,[16][8] and his paternal grandmother, novelist Valerie Mendes, is an English Jew.[17] His paternal great-grandfather was the Trinidadian writer Alfred Mendes.[16] He also has Irish and Swedish ancestry through his mother.[18][19] His maternal great-grandparents were both actors and ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company.[20] His maternal five times great-grandfather, Anders Jonsson, was an agricultural slave labourer in Sweden and was arrested for stealing potatoes and honey to feed his family and died in prison from typhoid in 1832, while waiting for his appeal.[19]
Anders grew up between New York City and England.[21][22] In 2010, he moved with his mother and half-sister from New York City to England in order to avoid paparazzi,[23] and since 2013 they have lived in West Wittering, Sussex.[24]
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Career
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In 2019, Anders made his feature film debut at the age of 15 with a small part as Private Willock in the war drama 1917, directed by his father, Sam Mendes. He was credited as "Joe Mendes" in the film.[25]
In 2022, he changed his stage name to Joe Anders and had a small part in the Channel 4 television drama film I Am Ruth (2022), directed by Dominic Savage, appearing alongside his mother Kate Winslet and his sister Mia Threapleton, portraying their son and brother, respectively.[26]
In 2023, Anders had a small part as an American soldier in the biographical war drama Lee, directed by Ellen Kuras,[27] and had his first leading role in the musical coming-of-age romantic comedy Bonus Track,[28] directed by Julia Jackman.[5][29] For his performance in Bonus Track, he was longlisted for the British Independent Film Awards in the Breakthrough Performance category, but did not get the nomination.[30]
Anders is also a musician[31] and learned how to play the piano in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.[32] In 2024, he composed the score for Mike Gilbert's short film Big Cat.[33]
In October 2024, Anders joined the cast of Zoe Kazan's upcoming miniseries East of Eden, adapted from John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name.[34]
In February 2025, it was reported that Anders wrote the screenplay for Winslet's directorial debut for Netflix, the upcoming British family drama film Goodbye June.[35]
In May 2025, Anders joined the cast of Apple TV+'s series Cape Fear.[36]
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Filmography
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
Film
Television
References
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