Why House of Guinness' Jack Gleeson ‘retired’ for a decade after Game of Thrones

Many Netflix viewers tuning in to watch House of Guinness, a show that many are calling the ‘next Peaky Blinders’, may be shocked to see Jack Gleeson on their screens.

Gleeson, who is best known for playing King Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones, stars in the show as Byron Hedges.

The series, releasing today on Netflix, follows the Guinness family and the struggle for power after the death of the family's patriarch, Benjamin Guinness.

Whilst Gleeson doesn’t play one of the Guinness children who lead the plot or the main antagonist, played by James Norton, he is a major part of the TV show in his biggest role since being killed off on Game of Thrones.

The actor was believed to have a promising career following his four-season stint on the beloved show, with Joffrey widely regarded as one of the most hated villains of all time.

Jack Gleeson is best known for his role as Joffrey in Game of Thrones (HBO)

After he left the show, however, Gleeson disappeared from the public eye, not acting in anything but a small indie film or appearing in a few episodes of TV for the next ten years.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2014 after Joffrey’s death, Gleeson said that he was retiring from acting at 21.

The actor pointed out that he’d been acting since he was eight years old, saying: “I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to.

“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.”

During his acting hiatus, Gleeson attended Trinity College Dublin and co-founded a theatre company with his friends.

The actor took ten years off but is back to starring in big shows (Dave Benett via Getty Images)

Speaking more recently about his decision, Gleeson spoke to The Hook at the House of Guinness premiere, disavowing rumours as to why he had taken a break.

He said: “Well, I can say thankfully it wasn’t because I received any sort of abuse from anybody. People confuse the actor with the character, and after Game of Thrones, or even during, I was continuing to act but it was more just with a theatre company I had set up with some friends in Dublin.”

He finished by saying he started to ‘miss’ screen acting, leading him to return after a decade.

Starring in House of Guinness, the historical drama releasing today has received mixed reviews from critics, sparking concerns for those who had been told this was the lovechild of Succession and Peaky Blinders.

The Irish Times called the show ‘wildly unfaithful’ and added that: “One problem with House of Guinness is that Steven Knight’s understanding of Ireland’s experiences of colonialism is rudimentary at best.”

Empire was mixed on the series, however, giving it three stars, saying: “Compared to Peaky Blinders, we have here a much more interesting backdrop to a much less interesting set of characters.

“The result is a story that feels thin: characters you only half care about, depths that get skated over, and a style-over-substance pint that could have used a slightly better head.”

House of Guinness is available to stream on Netflix now.