Joey Batey
Joey Batey is an English actor, musician, singer, songwriter and author. He portrays the bard Jaskier in the fantasy series The Witcher, where he sang "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", as well as other songs featured in the series.
Early life and education
Joey Batey was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has said he grew up in a "musical family" and has always been around music. He took a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from Robinson College, Cambridge, then studied at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. Whilst at Cambridge, he co-wrote and performed the comedic sketch show Good Clean Men with Alex Owen, Ben Ashenden and Simon Haines and he performed in a production of The Seagull alongside Haines, Lily Cole and Genevieve Gaunt.Career
Batey's film debut was in the 2013 British thriller, Murder on the Home Front, directed by Geoffrey Sax. In 2014, he appeared in The Riot Club directed by Lone Scherfig. In 2017, Paul McGuigan cast him as Eddie in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Batey also played in the British TV series Strike, and In The Dark. He appeared in the series Knightfall in 2017–2018, a 14th century period piece centered on the Knights Templar, where he played the role of Pierre, a spy after information on the Holy Grail.Batey is a vocalist and musician for the indie folk band The Amazing Devil, as well as the primary writer and composer. He and collaborator Madeleine Hyland met while acting for the Royal Shakespeare Company and together they formed the band in 2015,
producing what Batey has described as music that “sad people can listen to at train stations.”
The band has released three albums including Love Run, and The Horror and the Wild. Their most recent album, Ruin, was released on 31 October 2021.
Since 2019, Batey has played the character of the bard, Jaskier, in Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher, based on the Polish novel series of the same name. Batey has performed the following songs featured in the series: "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", "The Fishmonger's Daughter" and "Her Sweet Kiss", as well as "Burn Butcher Burn", "Whoreson Prison Blues" and "The Golden One".
Batey states he has been writing for the past seventeen years, though his debut novel, It's Not A Cult is his first published novel. It's Not a Cult is described as a "darkly comic folk horror" and was released October 23rd, 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The audiobook, read aloud by Batey, is currently only available in the United Kingdom. The illustrations featured in the book are made by Madeleine Hyland.