Fans of the HBO drama Game of Thrones were left shocked after Sunday’s episode, in which King Joffrey was poisoned and killed at his own wedding.
Jack Gleeson, 21, the actor who plays the most hated character on the show, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his departure from the show and future plans.
“It’s relieving in a way,” Gleeson said, when asked about shooting his death scene. “You want to do the scene and character justice. It’s a complicated scene; I’ve never had a death on screen before.”
Gleeson has been on the show for the past three years, but evidently knew of his character’s fate since the beginning.
“I knew from Day 1. When I got the part, I read the first book. And before that, I Googled the character summaries,” he said. “I would have been surprised if it didn’t come in season 4. I was just like, whatever.”
Although only 21 years old, Gleeson plans to retire from acting, now that his time on Game of Thrones is over.
“I’ve been acting since age 8. I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to,” he stated. “When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do.”
Gleeson is currently a student at Trinity College in Dublin, according to TIME, and he does not yet know what we wants to do when he graduates.
Game of Thrones will return with a new episode on Sunday, following the aftermath of the pivotal death of King Joffrey.