Kit Harington opens up about his battle with addiction
Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington is opening up about the struggles he faced both during filming and in the aftermath of the show’s ending. He spoke to The Sunday Times about his decision to get help and how a change of perspective helped make a big difference.
Actors are so good at what they do that audiences usually have no idea based on what they see onscreen that anything is amiss. Harington shared that “some pretty horrible stuff” was happening in his life while filming the show and after it ended. “Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol,” he said.
Kit Harington was ready to make a change by getting sober
Before seeking help, Harington said that he was in a dark place. “You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there’s no way out, that’s just who you are. And getting sober is the process of going, ‘No, I can change.’”
"One of my favorite things I learnt recently is that the expression ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spots’ is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots. I just think that’s the most beautiful thing. It really helped. That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life."
Harington tried not to reveal his struggles with addition publicly, to the extent that the people around him were actually surprised when he sought treatment. Now that he has been through his process and is focusing on his new baby with wife Rose Leslie (who played Ygritte on Game of Thrones), he hopes that his story might be able to help someone else. “I definitely don’t want to be seen as a martyr or special,” he said. “I’ve been through something, it’s my stuff. If it helps someone, that’s good.”
Next. All the actors in House of the Dragon and who they're playing. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels
h/t Digital Spy