In time to the 15-year anniversary of Game of Thrones this year, stars Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) reunited for an episode of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, sitting down together for the first time in years to reflect on the HBO mega hit. The two beloved actors starred in all eight seasons, and with that lived all the ups and downs that came with such a huge show.
Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series, became a total phenomenon after premiering on April 17, 2011, and for the cast members—much of whom who were relatively unknown at the time—nothing could have prepared them for the level of attention. Dinklage and Harington, who were at very different stages of their lives when the show began, looked back at the start and the end of it all, and the pressure that came with it.
Kit Harington opens up on getting sober after Game of Thrones
When Dinklage asked Harington what he did when Game of Thrones ended, Harington was honest: “I needed to get sober.” Fans will remember the headlines during the final season, which reported that the British actor entered a rehab facility for “stress and exhaustion and also alcohol.” Harington has been very open in the years since on the toll fame took on him, and why he needed to make a big life change to navigate it.
“I decided to go to rehab as Episode 1 [of the eighth and final season] was airing, and I was there for six weeks. I needed to get sober. I needed to get my head on straight,” Harington told Dinklage. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, there’s loads of press that needs to be done. You need to be front and center.’ But it was a good decision to go, ‘Actually, I’m checking out. I can’t do this.’”
Harington’s rehab stay came at a pivotal time in his career: the show that catapulted him to fame—and earned him two Emmy Award nominations—was ending, and the audience was more critical than ever before. Unfortunately, we all know how the final season went over with diehard fans and critics alike, leading to extreme backlash… some of it totally unwarranted.
Along with going to rehab, Harington made another major decision at that time: not to watch the final season at all.
“So I didn’t see the last season,” Harington recalled. “And then I decided to take a year off work to get sorted. Right as I’m going to reengage with work, COVID hit. So it was this very strange period after the show ended. Massive society sledgehammers or personal sledgehammers. But it allowed me to figure out — not to be too wanky — who I was. And whether I really wanted to do this anymore, talking bluntly. I spent a lot of ‘Game of Thrones’ working from a place of pain. It was the character as well, I think.”
Harington’s vulnerability in opening up about the pain he faced while playing Jon Snow is admirable, and he’s not alone. Several of the cast members of Game of Thrones have spoken about the negative experiences they’ve had as a result of the show’s popularity, including toxic fans and constantly being in the media. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), for instance, has championed mental health awareness after experiencing disordered eating from being in the public eye at a young age.
Also in the Variety interview, Dinklage acknowledged that many of the Game of Thrones characters “have nothing but pain” to which Harington pointed out that at least Tyrion had humor as well.
“I’m very proud of the work I did, but I was pulling purely from pain,” Harington shared. “One of the things I’ve realized since finishing is looking at what you were doing so naturally, mixing those together. It was that joy I needed to discover post-‘Game of Thrones.’”
In the years since Game of Thrones ended, Harington has continued to work, appearing in shows like Modern Love, Extrapolations, and Too Much, and movies such as Eternals, The Beast Within, and The Dreadful (the latter co-starring with Turner). Of course, his biggest project post-Thrones is HBO’s Industry, playing Yasmin’s wealthy husband Henry Muck. It’s a major departure from Jon Snow, and Harington plays the character so well. The Hollywood Reporter even predicts he could get an Emmy nom for his performance.
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