Game of Thrones Star Breaks Silence on His Hiatus From Screen Acting — And It Wasn't King Joffrey

Jack Gleeson, aka TV's most infamous teen tyrant, slipped out of sight after Game of Thrones and basically left the internet to wonder if Joffrey scared him off acting forever. He did not. He just swapped the Iron Throne for a black box theater. And now he is back on your TV in Netflix's 'House of Guinness' from 'Peaky Blinders' creator Steven Knight.

So where did he go?

Gleeson popped up at the series premiere and told The Hook that the long break from screens was by choice, not fallout. He kept acting the whole time, just not on camera. He co-founded a small theater company with friends in Dublin and focused on that during and after Thrones.

'Thankfully, it wasn’t because I received any sort of abuse from anybody... People confuse the character with the actor, but after Game of Thrones or even during the show, I was continuing to act — it was more with a theatre company I set up with friends in Dublin, and I was more into that at the time.'

What is 'House of Guinness'?

Steven Knight is telling a 19th-century family saga about the Guinness empire right after the death of Benjamin Guinness. With the patriarch gone, the children start jockeying for control while the business stretches from Ireland to New York. Like 'Peaky Blinders', Knight mixes real history with a healthy pour of fiction. Inside baseball note: Gleeson's role is part of that fictional blend.

Gleeson in the show

• He turns up in episode 3 as Byron Hedges.
• Byron is a made-for-TV character who claims to be an illegitimate branch on the Guinness family tree.
• His agenda is simple: help drive the stout into the American market.
• 'House of Guinness' is streaming now on Netflix.

Short version: Joffrey did not run him off. He went home, built something on stage, and now he is back stirring trouble in a Steven Knight period brawler. Pace your binge accordingly.