Jack Gleeson | Scholar at Trinity College

If you have watched Game of Thrones, it’s hard not to hate the anti-heroes in the series: evil, vile, and downright hateful. These characteristics are best played out by Jack Gleeson, who portrayed the credit role of Joffrey Baratheon, the young antagonist who became the 18th king of the Seven Kingdoms.

It’s a consolation knowing that Gleeson in real life cannot even match a small amount of Baratheon’s evil. In fact, he’s the exact opposite, and more! Before he starred in Game of Thrones, Gleeson has been off-camera for more than 10 years. The child actor has somehow felt less joy in acting when he was being paid to perform, saying that it has put a certain amount of pressure on him when he does it for a living. In an interview with When Entertainment Weekly, Gleeson lamented: “When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do.”