Joffrey Actor Jack Gleeson Never Actually Watched Game Of Thrones
Aside from "Lost" and "How I Met Your Mother," few shows have received the kind of blowback for their endings that "Game of Thrones" did. The HBO dark fantasy series was a critical darling for much of its run, but the shine wore off of the adaptation during the truncated final seasons.
Of course, this was long after the death of one of the most hateable characters in the show's entire run. For the first four seasons of "Game of Thrones," Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) was the terror of Westeros, using his kingly powers to torture, demean, and kill anyone unlucky enough to draw his ire.
All the same, to hear it from Gleeson himself, he managed to avoid the extensive discourse surrounding the hit series because he didn't actually watch the epic franchise. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, the actor said as much when he was asked how he felt about the show's ending. "I never actually watched it, and that's an honest thing."
Jack Gleeson was honest about his experience with the series
While many characters died horrific and unceremonious deaths on "Game of Thrones," few were as celebrated as Joffrey Baratheon's. Fans will recall that he died in his mother, Cersei's (Lena Headey) arms during his own wedding after being poisoned by Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) during the festivities.
Still, the actor didn't have much to say about the many pivotal scenes that featured his villainous boy king, as he's just not very comfortable watching himself on the screen. "There was something about it where I was just like, 'No, I'll just leave it,'" he explained of his decision not to watch "Game of Thrones."
That didn't mean he was unaware of how divisive the ending of the medieval drama was. Jack Gleeson heard all about it from some friends who were watching the series through to the end. Still, contrary to his character, the actor was very diplomatic and fair to the series he hadn't experienced for himself. "Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I don't have one personally," Gleeson said. "That's not a political answer. I just didn't watch it."
Gleeson also mentioned that he had only positive fan interactions
Luckily for Jack Gleeson, though, despite the hatred for his "Game of Thrones" character, he's got nothing but nice things to say about his interactions with fans. "A lot of people come up to me because I guess this rumor started that people were horrible to me on the street or I get attacked," he explained.
Gleeson dispelled the rumor, however, pointing out that fans have been very kind to him. "I've never had one negative experience," the actor said. "I feel like people are extra nice to me because they think people attack me, so maybe I should keep the rumor going."
While many actors who have portrayed characters in signature franchises like Jake Lloyd of "Star Wars" or Bella Ramsey of "The Last of Us" have been publicly harassed by fans and received hateful messages for their portrayals, it's nice to know that Gleeson was able to avoid this unfortunate aspect of being a central character in a widely watched show like "Game of Thrones."