Jack Gleeson

Jack Gleeson (born 20 May 1992) is an Irish actor. He is best known for portraying Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO television series Game of Thrones (2011–2014). Following this role, Gleeson took a six-year hiatus from screen acting. He returned to the screen in 2020 and has since appeared in the Irish film In the Land of Saints and Sinners and the series The Sandman (2025) and House of Guinness (2025).

Early life Jack Gleeson was born in Cork, Ireland, and raised in Ranelagh, Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College. Both of his parents are lawyers. 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 between 2010 and 2015. He studied philosophy and theology and was elected a scholar in 2012. At Trinity, Gleeson was a member of DU Players, where he met his future co-founders of Collapsing Horse Theatre Company. His first roles were in films such as Reign of Fire (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Shrooms (2007), and A Shine of Rainbows (2009). In 2010, he played a leading role in the film All Good Children, which was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. A reviewer for Variety considered Gleeson "the pic's big discovery".

In 2011, Gleeson starred as Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones. His performance received critical acclaim, and his character is widely regarded as one of television's best villains. In 2012, Gleeson expressed his intention to step back from professional acting to pursue an academic career once his work on the series was finished. TVLine named Gleeson "Performer of the Week" for his work in the episode "The Lion and the Rose".

Throughout the 2010s, Gleeson was a member of the Dublin-based Collapsing Horse Theatre Company, of which he was a co-founder and producer. He was in the original cast of the company's first production, Monster/Clock, a puppet show that premiered in Dublin in 2012. His next appearance was in "lo-fi comedy", Bears in Space, which premiered in Dublin in July 2014 and was part of the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show received positive reviews and was revived in Dublin and London in 2015, as well as Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in New York in September 2016. In 2017, Collapsing Horse was appointed artistic director of the Cat Laughs comedy festival; Gleeson gave a four-hour performance "as a cat from the 9th-century absurdist poem". Collapsing Horse came to an end in November 2019.

Gleeson made two public appearances in 2019. In June, he was featured in the musical comedy program AMUSICAL at the Cat Laughs festival. Then, in August, he made a surprise appearance at Trinity Brawl 2, a wrestling event in Dublin.

Gleeson returned to the screen in Sara Pascoe's 2020 series Out of Her Mind. In 2023, he appeared alongside Liam Neeson in the film In the Land of Saints and Sinners, and guest-starred in season four of Sex Education and in the BBC adaptation of The Famous Five novels. In 2025, Gleeson reunited with fellow Game of Thrones alum Alfie Allen in the Dutch–Belgian thriller Safe Harbor. He also appeared as Puck / Robin Goodfellow in the second season of the Netflix series The Sandman and as Byron Hedges in the historical drama House of Guinness, which is loosely based on the history of the Guinness family.

Personal life Gleeson divides his time between London, where he moved in 2015, and Dublin. On 27 August 2022, he married his long-time girlfriend Róisín O'Mahony in a small Catholic ceremony in County Kerry.

Gleeson publicly supported the successful campaign to legalise abortion in Ireland in 2018.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 2002 Reign of Fire Kid Uncredited 2003 Fishtale Boy with fish Short film 2004 Tom Waits Made Me Cry Young Vincent Shaving the Baby 2005 Batman Begins Little Boy 2007 Shrooms Lonely Twin 2009 A Shine of Rainbows Seamus 2010 All Good Children Dara 2012 Chat Adam Short film Electric Burma Himself Documentary 2014 Ringsend Short film 2021 Rebecca's Boyfriend Rory 2023 In the Land of Saints and Sinners Kevin Lynch 2025 With Compliments from the Gentlemen Across the Bar in Oman Himself Short film Learners Charlie Voice, short film

Television

Year Title Role Notes 2011–2014 Game of Thrones Joffrey Baratheon Main role (seasons 1–4) 2020 Out of Her Mind Casper 2 episodes 2023 Sex Education Dodgy Mo 2 episodes (season 4) 2023–2024 The Famous Five Thomas Wentworth 3 episodes 2025 Safe Harbor Farrell Walsh Main role The Sandman Puck / Robin Goodfellow 5 episodes (season 2) House of Guinness Byron Hedges 6 episodes

Theatre YearTitleRoleVenue Notes 2002 A Christmas Carol Tiny Tim Gate Theatre 2007 Great Expectations Young Pip DNA Riverbank Arts Centre 2009 The Giant Blue Hand Timmy Time The Ark 2011 Spurt Various Cork Midsummer Festival 2012 Monster/Clock Toby Smock Alley Theatre Also associate producer Human Child Smock Alley Theatre Co-producer 2014–2016Bears in Space Nico/Skin Project Arts Centre 2018 Collapsing Horse Science Fiction Radio Hour Performer Set Theatre Episodes: "Yokespiracy" & "The Irrational Number" The Sugar Club 2020–2022 To Be a Machine (Version 1.0) Mark O'Connell Dublin Theatre Festival Némo Bienniale Internationale Hong Kong Arts Festival 2021 The Seagull Constantine Galway International Arts Festival 2023 To Be a Machine (Version 2.0) Mark O'Connell Dublin Theatre Festival

Accolades Award Year Category Nominee / Work Result 1st Irish Theatre Festival 2016 Special Jury Prize Bears in Space IGN Awards 2011 Best TV Villain Game of Thrones 2012 Best TV Villain 2013 Best TV Villain IGN People's Choice Awards 2012 Best TV Villain Russian National Movie Awards 2015 Best Foreign Villain of the Year Saturn Awards 2013 Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series Scream Awards 2011 Best Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Awards 2011 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2013 Young Hollywood Awards 2014 We Love to Hate You