Jack Gleeson

Biography

Jack Gleeson is an Irish actor known for his famous portrayal of young king Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO blockbuster "Game of Thrones". Some of his famous roles are: Pa Connors Jr. in Killinaskully, Kevin Lynch in In the Land of Saints and Sinners(2023), Thomas Wentworth in "The famous Five", Dodgy Mo in "Sex Education" among others.

Childhood- Family

Jack Gleeson was born in Cork, Ireland on 20th May 1992. 

Image: Jack Gleeson childhood snap from Batman Begins(2005)

Jack has three sisters in:

1. Hannah Gleeson
2. Emma Gleeson
3. Rachel Gleeson

His sisters are also actors too, he attended drama classes with them and they performed at the youth theatre.

Education

• Leinster School of Music and Drama: He studied at the Leinster School of Music & Drama, in Dublin, Ireland.
• Gonzaga College: Jack studied at the Gonzaga College SJ,  a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland from 2004-2010.
• Graduation: Jack is studying at the Trinity College, Dublin for his degree in philosophy & theology. He is a recipient of the scholarship at the university (he was one of the 103 given the honor).

He wants to be an academic, possibly do a PhD in Hebrew & become a professor in philosophy.

Marriage- Relationship

Roisin O'Mahony

Actress and directed Roisin O'Mahony and Jack had been in relationship for quite some time.

The two get married on 27th August, 2022. Pre wedding ceremony was held in a small ceremony at The Sacred Heart Church in The Glen, Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland. Parish priest Father Patsy Lynch officiated the wedding.

Career

Jack's acting profession started at the age of 7 in theater. 

In the 2002 fantasy adventure 'Reign of Fire', he appeared in a small role.

In the short movie Moving Day(2002), written and directed by Rob Burke, he played Jack, the best friend of William; William is moving house, Jack and Will are going to try and do whatever is required to stop it from happening.

In another short film Fishtale(2003) written and directed by Paul Glynn, Jack played the 'Boy with the fish'

In Tom Waits Made Me Cry(2003), a short movie about a dystopian future where free thinking is discouraged, Jack appeared as the younger vincent, the adult Vincent character was played by Nick Lee in this Fergal Rock project

In the 2005 Christopher Nolan classic Batman Begins, he appeared in a small character.

In the horror mystery Shrooms(2007) directed by Paddy Breathnach, he played 'Lonely Twin'. 

In the comedy TV series created by and starring Pat Shortt, Jack played Pa Connors Jr.

In the family drama A Shine of Rainbows(2009), written and directed by Vic Sarin, he played Seamus. 

All Good Children (2010)

In the drama movie written and directed by Alicia duffy, Jack plays Dara. The story is about Dara and Eoin who have moved to France after the death of their mother, to stay with their aunt. Dara falls in love with Bella, but has hard time to hold himself when she doesn't reciprocate the feelings. Imogen Jones played Bella.

Game of Thrones

Jack played Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO superhit Game of Thrones. His portrayal of Joffrey Baratheon won him multiple awards including the IGN award. Jack has mentioned that he based his character on Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of the Commodus in Gladiator(2000).

Joffrey, the oldest son of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister is a sadist with liking for cruelty, which he hides through his charm.

After his father's death, Joffrey becomes his mother's puppet, Joffrey finally marries Margaery Tyrell, amidst the festivities, he is poisoned and he dies by it.

Game of Thrones is one of the world's most rated TV Series, with more than 2 million reviews and >9/10 rating on imdb. JAck appeared in a total of 27 episodes, from first season till the death of his character in season 4.

Monster/Clock: A Play on Time: At the puppet production performed at the Smock Alley Theater in Dublin, in Spring of 2012, he was the puppeteer of the lead character Toby

After Game of Thrones, he took hiatus from on screen roles, and preferred to dedicate more of his time to theater. He made his comeback to screen roles in 2020.

Collapsing Horse Company

He is the founder & artistic director of the theater company based in Dublin, the Company started in 2016 with the show Bears in Space(2016).

Since 2014 he tours around the world performing with his theatre friends. His group performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014. 

In the comedy series 'Out of Her Mind' starring Sara Pascoe, Juliet Stevenson, Fiona Button, Tom Stuart and others, he played Casper in two episodes (S1E3, S1E5)

In the comedy love story Rebecca's Boyfriend(2021), written an directed by Craig Austin Reynolds, he played Rory. Cameron Macauley, Mark Doherty, Emer Casey appeared in lead roles.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners(2023)

In the crime thriller directed by Robert Lorenz, Kevin is a troubled youth who is moving with the wrong herd. Kevin is hired by Robert to keep an eye on Finbar. Kevin likes writing songs, Kevin and Finbar grow close, Finbar tries to make Kevin give up crime and take song writing as a career. Kevin is shot in a gunfight while defending Finbar.

In the famous youth romance drama 'Sex Education',he appeared as Dodgy Mo in couple of the episodes (S4E6, S4E7)

In the BBC series Created by Nicolas Winding Refn, Jack appeared as a guest actor in episodes 1 and 3 of season 1. He played Thomas Wentworth.

Interesting Facts

• DU Players: Jack is a member of the Dublin drama group named DU players.
• He doesn't speak swear words, he avoids them in rehearsals and uses only in the actual take.
• He is considered very friendly by his co-stars despite his mean and violent character in Game of Thrones.
• Death of his role in Game of Thrones is his first death scene on TV/ movie.
• He is scared of heights, as a kid he realized it while climbing the 'Skellig Rock' in Ireland.
• He is afraid of closing doors, some years ago he lost tip of his fingers while closing the door.
• He likes to play the role of Marcus Brutus, whom he considers to be a good mix of Villain and hero.
• Published articles on human development for his anthropology class.
• He used to live in Dublin with his roommates.
• He doesn't watch much of Game of Thrones (That's quite surprising)
• Favorite person from GoT-Rory McCann(The hound)
• He feels audition of GoT pretty weird, it was a five minute audition in Dublin
• His Least Favorite Word: Panties.
• Turn off- sycophancy.
• Favorite bad word: Feces.
• Favorite dirty word: Crap.
• He is believed to be straight, we have no information on his love life, some assume him to be gay.

Activism and Philonthrapy

• Legalization of Abortion in Ireland: Jack publicly supported the campaign to legalize abortion in Ireland in 2018. The campaign was successful and culminated into The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which made abortions legal.
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Filmography

Movies

Series

Theatre

Awards

Quotes

• I'm happy to sacrifice a big pay check for my happiness. [2]
• Both villains and heroes need to have a steadfast belief in themselves. [2]
• Audiences like bad guys who kill for no apparent reason. People just like to hate them.
• Arrogance is a weird emotion to take on (for his role in Game of Thrones)
• I'm a solid 3 & half percent villain in real life, I'd be lying if I said zero (when interviewing on his character Joffrey in Game of thrones)
• To be inspired is the way to keep on going
• You are made to make a difference, so embrace every opportunity to do so
• Nothing's more fun than doing what people say you can't do
• Let your dreams stay big and your worries stay small.
• Love without limits.
• Winners in life are those who are excited about where they're going.
• Challenges are what make life interesting.
• It's sad when you realize you aren't as important to someone as you thought you were.
• Success isn't something that just happens
• You won't understand, so I won't explain
• If I didn't care, I wouldn't get mad.
• Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
• A wish is a desire without energy.
• Worry does nothing, but steal your joy and keep you very busy doing nothing.
• I always fall for people I can't have.
• Sometimes I just want to scream the words "I love you".
• Don't ask for a light load, but rather ask for a strong back.
• Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.
• The pain of parting is nothing compared to the joy of meeting again.
• I always prefer to believe the best of everybody.

Sources

1. Jack Gleeson on wikipedia
2. Jack Gleeson imdb bio
3.