Harington Hair Watch: “I Can Cut It Whenever I Like”
By Ani Bundel
The irony of contractually obligated behaviors that come with signing on for the biggest TV show on the planet continue. First, Kit Harington wasn’t allowed to cut his hair. Now….he’s still not actually allowed to cut his hair. But he can’t admit he’s not allowed to cut his hair. So now, we have the bizarre experience of Kit Harington being contractually obligated to go around boasting that he can cut his hair “whenever he likes,” when clearly, if that were so, he’d have gone full Matt Smith post-Doctor Who by now, and shaved himself bald just to shut us all up.
Why are we being subject to this? Because, in a bad bit of timing, Kit Harington’s UK movie Spooks: The Greater Good is up for release in the US under the title MI-5. This means Harington is out in the media, being interviewed by outlets like Entertainment Tonight. And of course, ET doesn’t really want to ask him about his a movie that’s been out in Europe for months already. They want to ask him if Jon Snow is really dead, and if he’s really out of his hair-iffic contract.
As they note, since MI-5 was filmed in 2013/2014, the hair on Harington’s MI-5 character, Will Holloway, is the same Jon Snow cut we all know and adore. But when pushed by ET, Harington responded brusquely: “I can chop it off right now.”
He also implied that he chose to do MI-5 in part because his obligations to Game of Thrones came to an end, and he wanted to fight against typecasting. “I’d just come off doing Thrones and Pompeii,” said Harington. “I think by that point I could feel myself getting a little boxed into one category, so I said, ‘Let’s just do something in the 21st century, please.’”
Speaking of Pompeii, that movie caused problems for the MI-5 production staff, since MI-5 filmed out on the streets of London at the same time Pompeii was in the middle of its promotional run-up, meaning Kit’s face was on the side of every double-decker and bendy bus that passed. “[We had to call cut on many shots] because you’d see my face in the background going past on a bus.” Clearly, MI-5 should have just written in a joke about an actor who looked like Holloway to explain it. They could have even suggested said actor desperately needed a hair cut.
By the way, Kit, dear, you can stop pretending about the hair. The Daily Mail spoiled it already, and all the spoilers back them up. We all know.
Next: Finnish weatherman delivers Game of Thrones-themed forecast, plus more funnies