In May of 2019, the same month that Game of Thrones aired its final episode of HBO, star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) checked into a rehabilitation facility. “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues,” his publicist said in a statement at the time.
Now, Harington is looking back on the experience, speaking about it on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “I went through some mental health difficulties after Thrones, and during the end of Thrones, to be honest,” the actor said. “I think it was directly due to the nature of the show and what I had been doing for years.”
The nature of the show, famously, was violent and intense, and we’re very glad Harington took some time to “really concentrate on himself,” as he puts it. “I’m really happy I did that.” Ditto!
Kit Harington took time off to relax, but is coming back in Eternals
“You don’t have to live in that intense place all the time,” Harington continued. “Why don’t you do something that takes the weight off? Why don’t you do something fun?” To that end, Harington is appearing in Amazon Prime Video’s Modern Love, which comes out on August 13.
That said, Harington will be acting in another intense workplace pretty soon; he plays Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight, in Eternals, one of the big new entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eternals hits theaters on November 5. “The character, I won’t go into why he interests me, because it’s more than my life is worth to tell you,” he said. “But what did interest me about that piece was that it as Chloe Zhao directing. I met her and spoke with her and was so impressed by her. The cast was sort of phenomenal and wide-ranging and diverse. It just looked like they were doing something really different with this movie. I can’t tell you much about it but we filmed it pre-pandemic. And it’s coming out finally, it was sort of frustrating that it got pushed back so much. But now I’ll be going on and doing some press for that soon and it’s really exciting.”
Kit Harington will watch Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon
Harington also reflected on some of the better times he spend on Game of Thrones. He met his wife Rose Leslie (Ygritte) on there, after all. “My child is a direct result of Game of Thrones,” he said.
"I remember shooting up on this incredible glacier in Iceland [during season 2], and I went off to take a pee, just in… somewhere in the wilds of Iceland. And I just looked out over this glacier and I thought, ‘God, I got the best job in the world.’ And that always sticks out to me because if I’m ever feeling grumpy about my lot, which, believe me, I can do amazingly, I think of that. And I think, ‘Now you’ve got a pretty special job.’"
As for the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff (and possibly spinoffs, if all goes well), Harington is in. “I really wish them luck with what they’re doing next. I’m going to watch it. And I think it came at a fascinating time. It was spread out over a fascinating time globally I think, Thrones. I’m so glad we got it done before the pandemic.”
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