10 Game Of Thrones Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

1. Joffrey May Never Act Again..And He's A Humanitarian

Now's a good time to stop reading if you haven't yet seen that second episode of season four, The Lion And The Rose. When Jack Gleeson became Joffrey Baratheon, he reportedly received a letter from George R.R. Martin which said "Congratulations on your marvellous performance! Everybody hates you now." And there's no denying it, Joffrey will most likely go down as one of the easiest characters to despise in television history; every time he was on screen the urge to do something really, really nasty to him was almost too much to bear. All the credit goes to Gleeson, who portrayed the mad boy-king with pitch-perfect spitefulness and malice. But since Joffrey's sudden - and much appreciated - death in the second episode of season four, the chances of us seeing Gleeson act again are very small. The 21 year old has decided to retire, and there's more than one reason. The hatred inspired by his character Joffrey has caused the actor to be harassed on the streets by complete strangers and, while he has zero regrets of doing the show or portraying the character, the whole experience has ultimately served to sour his feelings towards celebrity lifestyle and the lack of privacy it brings. What's more, Gleeson is huge on humanitarianism and would like to devote more time to helping others through charity organisations like GOAL. He's also very scholarly and would like to have more time to devote to studying. All of this just goes to show how world's apart the actor is from the character, which emphasises his brilliant performance even more. We wish Gleeson the best of luck in his future endeavours, but can't promise that we'll hate his character any less during Game Of Thrones reruns. Like this article? Tell us about it in the comments!