The Behind-the-Scenes 'GOT' Shocker

If you haven't heard the latest Game of Thrones spoiler, then it's better to avoid the Internet entirely since it's all everyone is talking about. Joffrey "I am the king" Baratheon is dead and with him goes one of Game of Thrones's vilest, cruelest, most twisted little villains. And, on a show like GOT, that is really saying something. His abrupt and rather ugly death from asphyxiation after drinking poisoned wine was met with uproarious shouts and cheers from the entire Twitterverse, because, well, who can pick a single moment in which Joffrey proved himself to be an irredeemable monster? However, as if that bombshell wasn't enough, Jack Gleeson has revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Joffrey's death will also mark his retirement from acting at the ripe old age of 21.

I’ve been acting since age 8. I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to. And now there’s the prospect of doing it for a living, whereas up until now it was always something I did for recreation with my friends, or in the summer for some fun. I enjoyed it. 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.

Gleeson has a point. If acting was his main passion, then Game of Thrones has opened doors for him that he never could have imagined before. His co-stars speak so highly of him that his transformation into everybody's favorite baddie is really quite remarkable. Joffrey's actions, his expressions, and the smarmy way Gleeson delivers his lines have made him the one Game of Thrones character that everybody loves to hate. Which, again, is really saying something.

Since acting isn't his main passion, however, then Gleeson is in a good place to walk away from it. He's currently at the top of his game and, considering GOT is going to be around for a long time yet what with the book series being as long and unfinished at it is, he can bank on Joffrey's star power to get him scripts if he ever wants to get back into the game.

As for what he'll be doing instead, Gleeson doesn't have a clear plan just yet. "I have one year left in college. After that, I might do a post-graduate of some kind, but I don’t know in what," he said, shooting holes in the general American sentiment that the real reason to go to college is to get a high paying job. He went on to say that he'd once wanted to be an academic, but finds the lifestyle to be "kind of lonely and isolated" nowadays. Either way, he doesn't really see acting in his future for now.

"Thank you for taking so much love in hating me," Gleeson said, poking fun at his character's massive hatedom in his goodbye message to the fans. Watch the whole video below.

Image: HBO