Joffrey to Byron: Jack Gleeson returns to acting with Netflix's House of Guinness
After a decade away from the screen, the Irish actor leads the Netflix series from Steven Knight in a brewing dynasty drama
Jack Gleeson, the Irish actor who played Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones, has returned to acting with a starring role on Netflix's House of Guinness. Now 33, Gleeson is back in a leading part after more than a decade away from screen work.
His rise with Thrones began when he was 18, but Gleeson walked away from fame in 2014 after Joffrey's brutal death in the Purple Wedding. He has said he stopped enjoying acting as much and preferred anonymity, telling audiences at University College Dublin that acting had become mechanical and less passionate. He added, 'When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it.' He also noted that while he does not hate acting, he chose a different path.
During his extended break, Gleeson focused on the Collapsing Horse Theatre Company and theatre work. He kept a low profile and avoided social media. He resurfaced on screen in 2020 with the BBC miniseries Out Of Her Mind as Casper, signaling a return to television. He has since taken on roles in Sex Education (season 4), The Land Of Saints And Sinners, and the BBC adaptation of Enid Blyton's Famous Five in 2023. He also appeared in Netflix's The Sandman as Puck earlier this year, underscoring a broader return to on-screen work.
House Of Guinness marks Gleeson's most high-profile project in years. The series, from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, centers on a brewing dynasty and a family navigating power shifts in a changing landscape. Netflix describes Gleeson's Byron Hughes as 'ambitious, charming and mercurial,' an outsider who is loyal only to himself. Gleeson has said Byron is a well-rounded character, and he enjoyed working with co-star Anthony Boyle, noting that their on-set energy kept the scenes fresh.
Off screen, Gleeson remains private. He married his longtime partner Róisín O'Mahony in 2022, and he has said he does not use social media and prefers to be known by his friends and family. In interviews from earlier in his career, he acknowledged that he sometimes feels like a 'washed-up child actor' but has since embraced a return to performance, seeking roles that move and challenge him.
House Of Guinness debuted globally on Netflix this week, bringing Gleeson back to a global stage after years away. The series follows a brewing dynasty and features a cast that anchors the show as it expands Netflix's prestige-drama slate. For Gleeson, the project represents a formal reintroduction to top-tier television and a new chapter that diverges from the Joffrey era while inviting audiences to revisit him in a very different role.