Game On

The Real King Joffrey from Game of Thrones Is Having a Surprising Year

This is not quite what we expected from King Joffrey.
Image may contain Accessories Accessory Human Person Jewelry Jack Gleeson and Finger
Helen Sloan/HBO

When Game of Thrones bumped off King Joffrey way back at the beginning of 2014’s Season 4, there seemed to be a real danger that we would never see actor Jack Gleeson’s wonderfully weaselly face again. The actor who did such a good job of making us love to hate him announced at the time that he was retiring from acting at the ripe old age of 21. “The answer isn’t interesting or long-winded,” he told Entertainment Weekly when explaining why he had decided to give it all up. “I’ve been acting since age 8. I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to.” At one point, Gleeson announced plans to go into academia full-time.

An actor uninterested in the limelight can easily disappear from view, but while Gleeson cited finishing his education as his primary post-Game of Thrones goal, he also said he only had “one year left in college.” That means, if all went according to plan, Gleeson would be footloose and fancy free by now. In the past few months, Gleeson has been reconnecting with his place in the heart of Game of Thrones fandom cropping up at conventions around the globe in order to delight fans. We have the decidedly non-Joffrey photos to prove it.

Gleeson popped up at the Dallas Fan Expo this past weekend and, in April, at both the Indiana Comic-Con and Melbourne’s Supernova Pop Culture Expo. He also made quite a splash at Germany’s RingCon last November. His poses? Exquisite.

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We shouldn’t be at all surprised that Gleeson—who made his face so delightfully punchable for three seasons on Game of Thrones—would know a thing or two about mugging for the camera. His goofiness also shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all this is how he reacted to his on-screen death:

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. . .a particularly delightful sandwich. . .

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. . .and a puppy.

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So, never fear, if you miss Jack Gleeson you won’t just have to rely on Batman Begins re-runs and old Game of Thrones episodes to keep you satisfied. He’s out there ready to improve your photo 100% with his facial contortions.