Rose Leslie talks about Kit Harington’s struggles with addiction

British actor Kit Harington (R) and wife actress Rose Leslie arrive for the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards on January 5, 2020, at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
British actor Kit Harington (R) and wife actress Rose Leslie arrive for the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards on January 5, 2020, at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

Married actors Kit Harington and Rose Leslie met on the set of Game of Thrones. After the show ended, Harington sought treatment for alcohol abuse.

After Game of Thrones ended in 2019, star Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow, checked into a “wellness retreat” after struggling with substance abuse, specifically alcohol. He got through that “This is a very addictive job,” Harington later explained. “In a week’s time, I’m going to go out, stand on stage and get applause, and it’s going to be a huge rush and a high. The trouble is, I never really wanted to come down from that high. Now, I’ve learned how I do that and I’m much happier for it.”

Now, Harington’s wife Rose Leslie — who played Ygritte on Game of Thrones — is talking about Harington’s struggles with Bazaar. She says she’s “doing well,” but addition is a marathon, not a sprint. “For Kit, being an addict, it’s very important for him to recognize himself as such,” The Good Fight actor said. “The AA community has provided such a loving space for him to feel heard, to make sure he’s not alone. But if it weren’t for rehab, he would be in a very different headspace right now.”

"I’ve learnt a lot about addiction and it’s something Kit is forever going to be aware of, but it’s on him whether he chooses to drink again. No amount of nannying is going to be able to stop him from doing what he decides to do… I don’t choose to put that pressure on myself. The responsibility of his behaviour is on him. It’s not on me to guard him from it."

That sounds like an extremely health approach for Leslie — and Harington — to take. The couple welcomed a son last year. We wish them the best.

On the screen, you can next see Leslie in The Time Traveler’s Wife on HBO; the sci-fi romance series premieres on May 15. Harington will appear in Extrapolations, an anthology series about climate change coming to Apple TV+.

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h/t People