Joss Carter is a London-based British Creature Actor, Physical Performer, Movement Artist, Performance Specialist, Choreographer, Director and Creative Producer with more than 20 years of professional experience across film, television, stage, contemporary dance, immersive theatre, live performance art, motion capture, performance capture, music video and creative education. 

His practice exists at the intersection of acting, movement, physical transformation and creature performance — using the body, voice and imagination to create characters, creatures and performances that exist beyond the ordinary.

 

CREATURE ACTOR

Joss specialises in creature and character performance, physically transformative roles and unconventional forms of storytelling. His work encompasses actors, creatures, monsters, demons, beasts, hybrids and distorted human forms, combining acting, movement, voice and physical invention to create characters that are visceral, authentic and physically distinctive. Rather than simply portraying a creature, Joss approaches the character through embodiment — developing its physicality, psychology, movement vocabulary, behaviour, presence and relationship to its environment. 

 

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & MOVEMENT

A graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, where he gained a BPA (Hons) in 2010, Joss's physical practice is rooted in contemporary dance, classical ballet, somatic movement, physical theatre, choreography and experimental performance.

More than two decades of professional practice have developed a highly individual physical language combining precision, instinct, psychological intensity, extreme physicality and transformative movement.

Joss is particularly interested in the relationship between body and psychology — using physical action to reveal character rather than simply illustrating it.

His work draws on contemporary dance, Butoh, physical theatre, experimental performance and distorted movement to explore what happens when the human body is pushed beyond its familiar vocabulary.

 

FILM, TELEVISION & SCREEN PERFORMANCE

Working for camera requires a precise understanding of scale, detail, repetition and continuity. Joss combines physical commitment with the subtlety required for screen performance, creating characters that remain physically compelling without losing emotional or psychological truth.

 

MOTION & PERFORMANCE CAPTURE

His physical vocabulary allows him to approach human, non-human and creature-based characters, combining movement, acting, improvisation, physical storytelling and character embodiment.

He is particularly interested in the possibilities of performance capture for characters whose physicality exists outside conventional human movement.

 

STAGE & LIVE PERFORMANCE ART

Alongside screen and capture work, Joss has extensive experience across stage, contemporary dance, physical theatre, immersive theatre and live performance art.

His live practice explores the body as a site of transformation, confrontation and storytelling, often combining movement, character, sound, ritual, atmosphere and audience interaction.

This work sits between performance art, physical theatre, contemporary movement and experimental performance, creating experiences that are visceral, immersive and physically immediate.

 

MUSIC VIDEO & EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Joss also works within music video and experimental visual performance, creating physically distinctive characters, creatures and movement-driven performances. 

His multidisciplinary approach allows him to move between performer, movement director, choreographer and creative collaborator depending on the needs of the project.

 

MOVEMENT DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY

Alongside his performance career, Joss works as a Movement Director, Choreographer, Creative Producer, Educator, Coach and Mentor.

His multidisciplinary experience allows him to contribute to projects from early creative development and character creation through to rehearsal, movement direction, performance, production and final execution.

He works with performers and creative teams to develop physical vocabularies, character movement, choreography and embodied performance.

 

ARTISTIC PRACTICE

Joss's independent artistic practice explores transformation, identity, the human and non-human body, mythology, folklore, horror, ritual, the grotesque and the unknown.

Drawing on contemporary dance, Butoh, physical theatre, horror cinema, experimental sound and avant-garde performance, he uses the body as both a creative instrument and storytelling medium.

He is particularly interested in the space between human and creature — where physicality, psychology and imagination intersect.

His work often explores the darker, stranger and more instinctive aspects of human experience, transforming abstract ideas, fears, fantasies and impulses into physical characters, performances and immersive experiences.

 

CREATIVE PROCESS

Joss's approach is uncompromising but highly collaborative.

Every project begins with curiosity, research and physical investigation, developing through experimentation, improvisation and disciplined technical practice.

Whether performing for camera, working inside a motion-capture volume, creating an immersive live experience or developing another artist's physical vocabulary, Joss commits fully to the demands of the work.

His process combines instinct with technique, experimentation with discipline, and physicality with psychological intention.

 

EXORCISM

Joss is the creator of EXORCISM, an independent creature-performance and creative practice exploring physical transformation, character embodiment and experimental performance.

EXORCISM extends his professional creature practice beyond individual performance into a wider creative methodology encompassing creature creation, movement research, performance, workshops and experimental artistic development.

 

FLESH & BONE INTERROGATIONS

Joss's training methodology, Flesh & Bone Interrogations, investigates the relationship between body, psychology, character and physical action.

Combining movement, improvisation, action-based performance, physical characterisation and creature creation, the methodology challenges performers to interrogate the body and discover physical vocabularies beyond habitual movement.

The work is designed to help performers expand their physical range, develop more instinctive characterisation and access new creative possibilities through the body.

 

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE

Across more than two decades, Joss has deliberately built an independent portfolio career rather than being confined to a single discipline.

His practice continues to evolve across performance, creature acting, movement, choreography, production, education, sound, visual art and experimental creative development.

Known for his raw physicality, versatility, imagination and willingness to inhabit the unconventional, Joss Carter creates work somewhere between actor and creature, movement and character, human and otherworldly.

Using the body, voice and imagination, he brings ideas that exist beyond the ordinary into physical reality.