I feel sort of sorry for Jack Gleeson. The 25-year-old Irish actor has been tasked with playing “Game of Thrones” villain Joffrey Baratheon, easily the most loathsome character on TV, well, ever. There is absolutely nothing to like about King Joffrey and he’s not even the kind of gleefully evil type you could maybe sort of root for. He’s a sadistic, vile little punk and I cannot wait to find out how he dies, because you know he must perish eventually. (He has to, right? I mean, evil like that cannot be allowed to live!) John DeVore and I have a new saying and that is, “He’s so Joff” which translates to “What a fucking dick.” Anyway, I am usually able to separate an actor from his character, but while I think I could control my desire to pummel Gleeson in the face on behalf of the Starks and those two prostitutes (for starters), I don’t think I could hold back my stink-eye. Really, this is a testament to just how good an actor Gleeson is and I hope he’s rewarded come award season. So what’s his story? Here are five things to know about Jack Gleeson.
1. His acting experience is pretty limited. He’s done a smattering of short films, had a bit role in “Batman Forever Begins,” and landed a few leads in small indie films, but Joffrey is his biggest part to date.
2. Perhaps that’s because professional acting is not his ambition. He would actually prefer to pursue a future in academia. “After ‘Game of Thrones’ I‘d be happy to do some amateur plays but I don‘t think I want to do any more professional acting,” he told the Irish Indepedent. “I‘d like to be an academic, a philosophy lecturer if possible. I‘d do a Masters in Ancient Hebrew maybe, and a PhD hopefully, if I get in.” I guess he won’t have to worry about typecasting then.
3. He is currently involved in a production of musical puppet theater. Check out the preview for “MONSTER/CLOCK” below!
4. While Joffrey is getting a lot of screen time in the second season, his favorite scene to play thus far was in season one. Gleeson first got to reveal Joffrey’s awful side when he bullied Arya’s friend, the butcher boy. “I really liked that scene just because that’s the first time the audience sees Joffrey for who he is,” Gleeson said. As for Joffrey’s latest antics, before season two started, Gleeson told Entertainment Weekly, “With his coronation, his malicious deeds amplify tenfold. He thinks everyone should say yes to him ’cause he has the right to be where he is, so he doesn’t take no for an answer. There are scenes where I just do malicious things for no reason.” Like abusing his fiancee Sansa and sexually torturing prostitutes for shits and giggles!
5. Despite playing the most revolting character on TV, Gleeson has fans. ““They’ve always been nothing but lovely,” Gleeson said about his encounters with GoT fans. “I haven’t gotten anybody coming up to slap or yell at me,” There’s even a fansite dedicated to all things Jack!
That’s all I could really find about the guy. I conclude this post with a few awesome Joff GIFs.
Original by Amelia McDonell-Parry @xoamelia
