2009. Gleeson was part of the initial starring cast and remained a member of the cast for the second and third seasons. He cites Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in Gladiator as an influence on his portrayal of Joffrey. Jack is a student of Trinity College, Dublin, studying philosophy and theology and is a member of DU Players. As a result, Gleeson’ s natural speaking voice actually has a pronounced Irish accent: the upper-class, Received Pronunciation accent he adopts while playing Joffrey on-screen is a conscious part of his performance. In the Blu-ray commentary for“ Lord Snow”, Sophie Turner( Sansa Stark) explains that for amusement between takes, the English-accented Turner and Irish-accented Gleeson would imitate one another’ s accents. In 2012, he was awarded a scholarship at the same university. He has indicated an intention to pursue an academic career rather than a professional acting career, once his work on Game of Thrones is completed. Gleeson is also the founder and artistic director of Collapsing Horse Theatre Company, which is based in Dublin.