Jack Gleeson (born 20 May 1992) is an Irish actor who played
Joffrey Baratheon
Joffrey Baratheon is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its HBO television adaptation ''Game of Thrones''. Introduced in 1996's ''A Game of Thrones'', ...
on the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
television series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' (2011–2014). Following this role, Gleeson took a hiatus from acting, but has since taken part in independent theatre and the 2020 BBC miniseries ''
Out of Her Mind
''Out of Her Mind'' is a 2020 BBC Two sitcom created by, written by, and starring Sara Pascoe. It follows a fictionalised Sara Pascoe, who had an abortion when she was young and was left at the altar by a former partner, as her sister becomes eng ...
''.
Early life
Gleeson was born in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, and raised in
Ranelagh
Ranelagh ( , ; ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of D06.
History
The district was originally a village known as Cullenswood just outside Dublin, surrounded by lande ...
, Dublin, where he attended
Gonzaga College
Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Irela ...
. He has two older sisters, Rachel and Emma, who are also involved in Irish theatre.
He attended drama classes with them when he was young, and also performed in youth theatre.
Gleeson attended
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
between 2010 and 2015.
He studied
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and was elected a
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
at the university in 2012.
At Trinity, Gleeson was a member of
DU Players, where he met his future co-founders of Collapsing Horse Theatre Company.
Career
Gleeson began acting at the age of 8, in the Independent Theatre Workshop. His first roles were in films such as ''
Reign of Fire'' (2002), ''
Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam ...
'' (2005), ''
Shrooms'' (2007), and ''
A Shine of Rainbows
''A Shine of Rainbows'', also known as ''Tomás and the Rainbows'', is a 2009 Irish-Canadian family drama film, directed and co-written by Vic Sarin as an adaptation of the novel ''A Shine of Rainbows'' by Lillian Beckwith.
Plot
During the 1960 ...
'' (2009). In 2010, he appeared in a leading role in ''All Good Children''. The reviewer for
''Variety'' magazine considered Gleeson "the pic's big discovery".
Gleeson starred as
Joffrey Baratheon
Joffrey Baratheon is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its HBO television adaptation ''Game of Thrones''. Introduced in 1996's ''A Game of Thrones'', ...
in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
''. He cited
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...
's portrayal of
Commodus
Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
in ''
Gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'' (2000) as an influence on his performance.
In 2012, Gleeson indicated an intention to retire from acting to pursue an academic career once his work on ''Game of Thrones'' was finished.
In 2014, Gleeson retired from acting after concluding his work in ''Game of Thrones''. In an interview, he stated that while he had previously been interested in pursuing academia, he had since "gone off that idea".
Throughout the 2010s, Gleeson was a company member of the Dublin-based Collapsing Horse Theatre Company, of which he was also a founder and producer. He was part of the original cast in the company's first theatre production ''Monster / Clock'', a children's theater show which premiered in Dublin in 2012.
He next appeared in the company's "lo-fi comedy" ''Bears in Space'' which premiered in Dublin in July 2014 and took part of the 2014
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
.
The show was well reviewed and had revival productions in Dublin and London in 2015 and
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in New York in September 2016 as part of Origin's 1st Irish theatre festival. Collapsing Horse came to an end in November 2019.
In 2019, Gleeson made two public appearances. In June, he was featured in the musical-comedy program AMUSICAL at the Kilkenny Cat Laughs comedy festival in
Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
, Ireland with comedians
Eleanor Tiernan
Eleanor Tiernan (born 1976) is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer, and actress.
Background
Tiernan is from the Roscommon side of Athlone. She studied engineering in University College Galway. She moved to London in 2015.
Career
Tiernan came to ...
and
Alison Spittle
Alison Spittle is an Irish comedian, comedy writer, radio producer and actress. She has worked for iRadio, RTÉ Radio 1 and Newstalk and created sketches for ''Republic of Telly'' and has written and starred in her RTÉ Two sit-com ''Nowhere ...
. In August, he made a surprise appearance at
Over the Top Wrestling's Trinity Brawl 2 event in Dublin where he played the
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
, aptly called "TV's Jack Gleeson", opposite Irish wrestler J Money.
In 2020, Gleeson returned to television in
Sara Pascoe
Sara Patricia Pascoe (born 22 May 1981) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' for Channel 4, '' QI'' for BBC and '' Taskmaster'' for the digital chann ...
's series ''
Out of Her Mind
''Out of Her Mind'' is a 2020 BBC Two sitcom created by, written by, and starring Sara Pascoe. It follows a fictionalised Sara Pascoe, who had an abortion when she was young and was left at the altar by a former partner, as her sister becomes eng ...
'', playing the ghost of Pascoe's abortion.
Personal life
Gleeson lives in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
; he previously lived in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
In May 2018, Gleeson publicly supported
the campaign to repeal Ireland's
Eighth Amendment.
On August 27, 2022, Gleeson married his longtime girlfriend Roisin O'Mahony in a ceremony in
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
, Ireland.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Jack
1992 births
21st-century Irish male actors
Irish expatriates in England
Irish male child actors
Irish male film actors
Irish male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Cork (city)
Male actors from Dublin (city)
People from Ranelagh
Scholars of Trinity College Dublin