Irish actor Jack Gleeson, who plays evil King Joffrey in ‘Game of Thrones’, has revealed that his performance is inspired by Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Commodus in the Oscar-winning film ‘Gladiator’.
In an interview with TV3’s The Morning Show last week, Gleeson discussed how ‘Game of Thrones’ has changed his life and named Phoenix as a key influence.
’His portrayal of evil in that was very inspiring. It was subtle but very visceral and kind of tangible, his creepiness made your spine shiver,’ Gleeson told presenters Martin King and Laura Woods.
The 21 year-old Cork actor also admitted that many fans have difficulty differentiating between fiction and real life.
’I’ve been called everything under the sun at this stage, well my character has… People just see me and they kind of have a guttural response,’ he added.
Gleeson is currently studying at Trinity College and reveals that dividing his time between acting and studying was surprisingly easy.
’It just worked out that they don’t coincide, in that ‘Game of Throne’ films during the summer… We only start up in October and finish in May with Trinity so it’s linked up really well. It’s been really easy to manage.’
Among the many actors who have appeared cast of ‘Game of Thrones’, Gleeson admitted that he was most star-struck by Sean Bean who played Ned Stark.
’I’d know him mostly from The Lord of The Rings movies which were just a massive deal so to be on the same set let alone acting with someone like Sean Bean you kind of just have to keep pinching yourself.’
Jack is currently promoting his new play ‘Distance from The Event’ which was written by Eoghan Quinn and also stars Aaron Heffernan from season four of ‘Love/Hate’.
‘Distance from The Event’ runs from 7th – 21st September at the Samuel Beckett Centre.
