Remember Joffrey? Of course you do. Despite already swiftly and ceremoniously exiting HBO's Game of Thrones, the influence of your favorite despicable teenager looms large over the show's increasingly prone-to-button-pushing future. With the theoretical whereabouts of one Jon Snow currently very much up for debate (is he playing tennis full-time now?), Joffrey — a.k.a. Jack Gleeson — leads a far less mysterious life.
Speaking with The Daily Beast regarding his current status as the mind behind a family stage show in Dublin, Gleeson admits he hasn't really watched Game of Thrones since his poetic departure (see above). "You know the willing suspension of disbelief, it’s kind of hard to suspend, because you kind of know that the sets aren’t really real," says Gleeson. "You kind of know that the actors aren’t really the characters. Obviously, people know that anyway — but you’re able to convince yourself more when you haven’t actually seen the thing in real life. So, I find it hard to watch.”
When asked about Joffrey's violent and frequently woman-devaluing behavior and the series' frequent cries of misogyny, Gleeson is quick to point out a necessity to maintain a balance between the sexes and a strict adherence to depicting such behavior in a negative light. "As I say, I don’t watch it so I can’t really comment," says Gleeson, "but I have heard that there is male nudity. So, I think that is one good thing — to not just objectify women but also objectify the beauty of the male genitalia! We’re all objects together.”
