Game Of Thrones Actor Jack Gleeson Is Back On TV As A Different Devious Character

Following the death of his "father," Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), near the end of "Game of Thrones" Season 1, Prince Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) ascends to the Iron Throne with his mother, Cersei (Lena Heady), at his side. In doing so, his violent and malicious tendencies come out, resulting in him becoming one of Westeros' most feared rulers. His vile nature is brought to the small screen to perfection by Gleeson, who is preparing for a return to the television world. It should come as no surprise that he's signed on to play yet another devious character.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Gleeson will star in BBC's adaptation of "The Famous Five": a series of novels by Enid Blyton that follows a group of kids consisting of Anne, George, Dick, and Julian, in addition to their dog Timmy, as they embark on all kinds exciting yet dangerous adventures. Gleeson will take on the role of the mustachioed Wentworth, and as evidenced by a photo of him in costume shared by EW, it's safe to say that the actor has come a long way from his "Game of Thrones" days.

2024 will mark a full decade since Gleeson's "Game of Thrones" departure, and despite his scene-stealing work as King Joffrey, his acting work between the HBO hit and "The Famous Five" has been rather limited.

Since Joffrey's gruesome demise in the "Game of Thrones" Season 4 episode "The Lion and the Rose," fans haven't heard much from Jack Gleeson and he has only taken on a small handful of film and television roles. In terms of features, he has only appeared in the short film "Chat" from 2016 in the role of Adam and the 2021 comedy "Rebecca's Boyfriend" as Rory. Meanwhile, his only post-"Game of Thrones" TV credit is the BBC series "Out of Her Mind." He appears in only two episodes, "My Life is Ova" and "Pants on Fire," as the character Casper.

Given what Gleeson has said about the effect of playing such a prominent villain on "Game of Thrones," it makes sense that he's taking on a lighter acting load. During a talk at University College Dublin, he explained that as his tenure as Joffrey continued on, it changed how he looked at acting. "For some reason, I don't know it became a bit kind of mechanical and less kind of passionate when I started 'Game of Thrones,'" he said, noting that acting became more of a job than something he had a pure creative passion for (via Unilad).

Hopefully, for Jack Gleeson's sake, "The Famous Five" will reignite his diminished love for acting. As he proved on "Game of Thrones," he's an immensely talented actor who deserves to thrive on screens big and small.