Joe was born in Boston across from the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown and grew up in the Irish neighborhood of West Roxbury or "Westie". He spent most of his youth playing ice hockey, and working as a landscaper, union stagehand and hockey coach. Joe attended Boston Latin high school, and then Stonehill College for theatre. In 2005, he was an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival under artistic director Roger Rees. He then studied at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in Waterford, CT as part of the ensemble of the National Theatre Institute. He continued his training when the University of Florida offered him a full-scholarship for acting. His MFA thesis role was Shelley Levene in "Glengarry Glen Ross" by David Mamet, directed by one of his professors and mentors, Tim Altmeyer.