Game of Thrones star Jack Gleeson is finally opening up about taking a break from acting after the show. The actor’s performance as the villainous Joffrey Baratheon on the show garnered widespread attention. Now, the actor returns with a new show, House of Guinness. At the premiere, the actor has now debunked the rumours that he took a hiatus from acting because of the hate that his character received after the show aired.

What Jack Gleeson said

Speaking to The Hoot at the premiere, the actor clarified the rumours about him taking a break from acting and said, “Thankfully, it wasn’t because I received any sort of abuse from anybody. Thankfully! I know that can happen, sadly. People confuse the character [with the actor] but after Game of Thrones or even during the show I was continuing to act but it was more of just a theatre company that I set up with some friends in Dublin and I was more into that at that time.”

He added, “But then I started to miss screen acting so I got back into it. So I don’t know it is where I was just at that time.”

About his new show

House of Guinness is the new show from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. The show explores an epic story inspired by one of Europe’s most famous and enduring dynasties — the Guinness family. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the story begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness. It also stars Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, Fionn O’Shea and James Norton. The show was released on Netflix on September 25.