The actor who played King Joffrey reflects on pissing himself while filming Reign Of Fire
Jack Gleeson, the actor best known for playing Game Of Thrones’ petulant monster-boy, King Joffrey, seems like a perfectly nice person. He’s heavily involved with charity, is effortlessly funny in interviews, and is also the kind of guy who, when talking to Vulture about his career, has no qualms about talking about the time he pissed himself on the set of the 2002fantasy movie Reign Of Fire.
No stranger to stories about dragons with a “Noun Of Noun” title construction, Gleeson was nine when filming Reign Of Fire. The movie—which he describes as “really kind of mediocre”—was one of his first acting jobs. Gleeson says he “got cast just because they filmed it in Ireland” and that the gig was the result of the production trying to “[band] together as many young Irish kids as possible.” As if this humility isn’t enough, Gleeson followed up on this point with an unprompted memory of his time on set.
“I do remember really needing to go to the bathroom at one point,” he tells Vulture. “They were like, ‘Just wait, we’re filming,’ so I just wet myself. I was a 9-year old kid, and I had to piss my pants.”
“Maybe that’s why I think it’s a mediocre film,” Gleeson adds.
When asked if anybody around noticed the poor child trying to play his role in wet pants, Gleeson says he “[hoped] they didn’t. I tried to be as cool and collected as possible. And then I acted my socks off. That’s one of the rules of acting: If you piss yourself, don’t let it affect your performance.”
The rest of the interview, despite never managing to top this anecdote, is well worth reading. Gleeson talks about another childhood role—the slum kid who has a one-sided conversation with Batman on a fire escape in Batman Begins—working at his theater company Collapsing Horse, and, of course, his time on Game Of Thrones, which includes chestnuts like Gleeson stating his approach to the role of Joffrey (“I just kind of say the lines in a mean way”) and falling asleep while playing the late king’s corpse.
As for his thoughts on the final season of the TV series? Gleeson says he doesn’t watch it. “ … There’s too much to catch up on. I’ve not a clue what’s going on,” he explains. “Even when I got the script, I only read my own scenes. I’m just selfish. Maybe I should get into it. I hear it’s good.”
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