King Joffrey may be an insufferable little jerk, but the actor who plays him recently made it clear that the two of them don’t share the same ideals or attitude.

Jack Gleeson made an appearance recently at the Oxford Union and spoke about the way society reveres celebrities…and the way celebrities fall for it despite the fickle nature of their own fans.

“What’s ironic is that you see celebrity endorsing things like musical tampons, and appearing in advertisements for lavender scented teeth whiteners or something,” Gleeson said. “Wielding goods whose sell-by dates will ironically, outlast theirs.”

Gleeson, who has been acting since he was pretty young (he made a small appearance in “Batman Begins’), found immeasurable fame when he signed on with “Game Of Thrones”, a show that found fans in the least likely of places with its stories of human trials in a fantasy world. As King Joffrey, he’s the guy we all love to hate, and even Gleeson can’t find too many things to like about the character.

“I would like to try and defend him, but I would have a pretty hard job doing it. I suppose he’s the product of his context and his family. In terms of redeemable qualities, there wouldn’t be many,” he said.

Gleeson announced recently that he will be retiring from acting, saying his heart isn’t in it anymore.

“It was always a recreation beforehand, but when I started doing Game of Thrones perhaps the reality was made too real for me…the lifestyle that comes with being an actor in a successful TV show isn’t something I gravitate towards. Since going to Trinity and garnering an interest in philosophy and with Goal and my theater company I’ve kind of just re-evaluated what I want to do,” he said.

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