KIT HARINGTON - THRONES

By Jack Wellington

Born in London, Kit Harington originally had aspirations to become a journalist before getting into acting. It was during his time at drama school when he landed the lead role in a critically acclaimed adaptation of “War Horse” that received two Olivier Award and got Kit noticed helping to launch his career. It was the role that he landed in 2011 that catapulted this actor to worldwide fame. His portrayal of Jon Snow in the wildly successful HBO series “Game of Thrones” has given him fans all over the globe. “Thrones” also introduced Kit to his future wife, co-star Rose Leslie. The pair started dating a year after the series began and married this past year in Scotland.

His turn as the lead in the historical romance Pompeii also scored this actor impressive critical accolades. The final season of “Thrones” is just about to begin, and fans are eagerly awaiting to find out how it all ends. We got the chance to sit down with one of the highest paid actors in television (He gets roughly $2 million per episode) and find out how he feels about taking on the role of Jon Snow again and what it’s like to be recognized by fans.

STRIPLV: Kit, “Game of Thrones” is a global TV phenomenon. The series has also helped turn you into a major star. Do a lot of people recognize you and want to stop and speak to you about the show?
HARINGTON: It’s amazing to be on a show where people approach you, and they’re universally enthusiastic, and they love it, and they say, “It’s the greatest show on TV. Oh, I love your character!” It’s people like that who keep our show going and keep me employed and so I’m always happy to stop and say hello. I wish, though, that I would be able to feel more comfortable in such situations because I’m not sure I know how to react sometimes and have a conversation with people I’ve never met before.
STRIPLV: Your character Jon Snow is rather more heroic and noble-minded than many of the evil figures on “Game of Thrones.” Do you share that heroic spirit?
HARINGTON: I would like to do the right thing whenever possible although that’s not necessarily heroic. Many years ago I was at a McDonalds with a girlfriend, and I stood up to this idiot who was insulting her. The guy was at least a foot taller than me, and I felt that I needed to throw the first punch. I wound up getting a black eye. So I’m not sure that trying to play the hero is always the best idea!
STRIPLV: Are you tired of playing Jon Snow?
HARINGTON: No, never. He is evolving just like I am – he’s deep and getting deeper.
STRIPLV: How would you describe your personality?
HARINGTON: I’m a pretty calm person. I’m like my father in that respect. He’s very good in emergencies. Once, when we were kids, my brother and I went sailing with my father, and we got caught in a terrible storm. I remember my brother and I were terrified, but he stayed completely calm. He didn’t even raise his voice or show any fear during the whole ordeal.
STRIPLV: Are you an optimist or pessimist in life?
HARINGTON: I take a laissez-faire attitude to stuff, and I’m always cynical about everything. So I would say I’m pretty much a pessimist about everything. I’m a Brit. So I take my dad’s opinion of things: “An optimist is just a pessimist without the facts.” I’m always prepared for the worst. “Well, you know, we’ll see what happens.” And if the worst does happen, you just go, “Ah, well.” But inside I’m hoping that things go really well.
STRIPLV: We know “Game of Thrones” links to Iceland and other desolate places. What’s it like to spend time there?
HARINGTON: I would urge anyone to go to Iceland at some point during their life. I’m not a spiritual person, but it’s an incredibly spiritual place. It’s very quiet, and the people are very calm and Scandinavian. They’re also bonkers at the same time.
STRIPLV: Do you like Icelandic musicians like Sigur Ros and Bjork?
HARINGTON: Oh, yeah. They have a wonderful saying in Iceland that one of the local people taught me: (Launches into an Icelandic accent): “Every year we send out a band to the world, and then they come back and if they conquer the world we go, ‘Hoo-gah! Hoo-gah! Hoo-gah!’ And I was just like, “You’re all nuts.” I love Icelanders.
STRIPLV: You’ve described yourself as an introvert. Do you find yourself putting on sunglasses or wearing baseball caps to keep people from recognizing you?
HARINGTON: No, I would go crazy if I felt the need to do that! Sure, actors are often recognized on the street, but that’s still no reason for me to hide. I don’t understand why other actors do that. I think you have to live normally and not feel the need to disguise yourself.
STRIPLV: How do you deal with the sex symbol attention?
HARINGTON: I enjoy the attention although I also realize that people who approach me love the character and really don’t know very much about me. I don’t have the kind of personality that allows me to feel an ego boost because of that. I would rather people appreciate me for who I am rather than what they think because of the character I play.
STRIPLV: A lot of your acting work involves combat—is that important to you?
HARINGTON: It’s just the way things fall, I think. I mean, there is history in my family, and I have always looked back on the experiences of some of my family to really help me work a way into a role or a character, and that has been helpful; but I wouldn’t say it’s a conscious decision.
On my mother’s side, there are actually some very interesting stories, involving her great uncle I believe. We’ve still got a medal for bravery—he was a doctor during World War I, and there is quite a moving letter that has survived for what is 100 years. It says stuff like “Under the most trying circumstances,” which sounds so sort of flippant. You know that trying in the first World War meant “Pretty horrific.” On my father’s side, my great great grandfather was a general in the first World War, so two different sides of the coin.
STRIPLV: Is it still in your contract that you can’t touch your hair?
HARINGTON: Yes, there are always tricky conversations with “Thrones” producers that happen behind closed doors. For Testament (of Youth), for instance, my hair was all pinned up underneath it, and it was tricky at times, but it’s the only way you can do it. For a movie at the start of the year, I could have a good bit cut off, and it would grow back, but nothing to that level. It was a wig and a very good wig. It had to be exactly right. The best of the best worked on it.
STRIPLV: How does your profile or persona change for movies vs. TV work?
HARINGTON: As far as my profile goes, you always have worries about movies, how it will affect your career, did you make your last choice? Looking back on something like Pompeii, I was on buses and billboards all over London for a month which, whether I like it or not, is not always a pleasant thing. But movies get your name out there, and that is a good thing – you can’t have one without the other.
STRIPLV: Is it a pressure taking on other movies after “Thrones?”
HARINGTON: I really try, most of the time, not to feel pressure or else I’ll simply crack at the seams, but “Thrones” very quickly got to the stage where it felt like the only thing, where everyone who’s watching it, it snowballs. Everyone who’s being told about it has now watched past seasons and caught up with it so there will be more people for this new one and it just gets bigger and bigger. And there is pressure there, but actually, I don’t, again, I don’t really feel it. If I was to think too hard about the size of it, and the number of people watching it and the importance to the future of me as an actor and what people think of me, it wouldn’t do me any good at all. It’s powerful when people come up to you. You feel it. Obviously, it has its hazards, but I can’t say I have felt overwhelmed by it at all.
STRIPLV: Even when people say to you, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
HARINGTON: That does get a little annoying. I don’t know why people try to make catchphrases out of things—just enjoy the line on the show.
STRIPLV: How secret are plans for the new one?
HARINGTON: Well, very. The books haven’t stayed true to form, and it’s very secretive at the moment, as you can imagine. It’s so secretive what we’re doing; we literally have to sign the scripts and the like. Like I can’t tell my family. And that’s also why exactly I don’t have Twitter.
STRIPLV: What feels more natural, sword or gun?
HARINGTON: A sword, but I have in the past spent so much time learning how to dismantle a gun and put it back together again, disarm someone, how to fire. I got pretty proficient at it.
STRIPLV: And you must have gone through training for physical combat in the past?
HARINGTON: Yeah, to a dangerous extent. If I get held up on the street, I hope I won’t attempt it. (Laughs) One too many, “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” and yeah, we’ll see what happens.