Joe grew up in an Irish neighborhood of Boston called West Roxbury, and spent most of his youth playing ice hockey, and working various jobs as a landscaper, waiter, salesman, construction worker, stagehand and hockey coach. Joe attended Boston Latin, the country's oldest public school. Despite some sleepless nights, he managed to balance a passion for the stage, student government, and ice hockey. Upon graduation, he had to choose between hockey and acting and he decided to continue with his acting training at Stonehill College in Easton, MA. Here he studied under Patricia Sankus. The summer after his last year of college, he attended the Williamstown Theater Festival as an apprentice. After Williamstown, he studied at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Institute in Waterford, CT. These experiences only confirmed that he wanted to continue his training more seriously and he auditioned for various grad schools in New York City. The University of Florida offered him a scholarship, and Joe chose to spend the next three years of his life in Gainesville, studying the classics along with contemporary work. His MFA thesis role was Shelley Levene in "Glengarry Glen Ross" by David Mamet. Here he also worked with some of the most talented people he'd ever met, including his favorite professor, Tim Altmeyer. After graduating in 2009, Joe worked as an actor on the east coast for a while before moving to Los Angeles.
