Joseph "Joe" Absolom (born 16th December 1978) is an English actor who appeared as Matthew Rose in EastEnders from 1997 to 2000.
He made his early appearances in the Sun-Pat peanut butter advertisements before making his acting debut with the 1991 film Antonia and Jane which was followed by roles in several television series such as The Bill, Dangerfield and Silent Witness. In 1997 he joined EastEnders and had few storylines in his first year on the show. The storyline which gained him recognition was the Saskia Duncan murder storyline which began in February 1999. His character Matthew Rose was framed for the murder by the real culprit Steve Owen. This dramatic storyline gripped British TV audiences for weeks and sent EastEnders' ratings soaring. Matthew’s last appearance was aired in February 2000, and he won the Best Actor Award at The British Soap Awards that same year.