Sometimes actors come and go, becoming super famous for a particular show before moving away from television to movies, video games, or another medium. Game of Thrones star Kit Harington almost became one of those, but thanks to HBO, he returned to television for another distinct role.
I’m not talking about his new role as Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter series, even though we’re excited for it. I’m talking about another role that changed his mind about television—he wasn’t sure about doing a long character arc after Game of Thrones.
But in an interview with Bustle, Harington admitted that it was because of his part in Industry that he realized he had actually missed playing a role that built out over several episodes, rather than a single film:
“I remember after Game of Thrones, there was a number of a few years where I was like, ‘I don't want to do any TV. I don't want to do any long character arc or whatever.’ And then with Industry, I came back and did one and I'd missed it. There’s something about taking a character over eight episodes rather than over a two-hour movie, which I find really deeply satisfying. And I also find the act of being in an ensemble deeply satisfying, where it’s not two or three groups, it’s a larger group of everyone having their own interweaving storylines."
Industry is a popular HBO series that follows the personal and professional lives of employees at an investment bank in London and how their roles affect their personal lives. Sure, it’s a very different role than what Harington has played before, but it was grounded and brought him back to the world of television as a whole.
Harington plays Sir Henry Muck in Industry, an aristocrat CEO of a start-up company called Lumi. He suffers from depression and addiction, two things that Harington himself has spoken about in relation to his own struggles. It’s no wonder he connected with that character and fell in love with TV after that.
The series has run for four seasons so far and has been renewed for a fifth and final installment. It’s beautiful that this series really brought Harington back to TV.
From Industry to Harry Potter
Thank God Harington got back into TV, because now we get to see him as Gilderoy Lockhart. For a short time, we thought the role would played by Nicholas Hoult, as it was announced that he would play the iconic Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. However, he ended up leaving the role, and Harington took it on soon after.
Harington himself has even said in a few interviews how much Harry Potter means to him and how it helped him through his sobriety journey. In the same Bustle interview, he mentions listening to the audiobooks as a way to turn his brain off to sleep:
“When I stopped drinking, I had to find a solution to this. And the solution was I listened to Harry Potter before going to bed, and I listened to it on headphones and Stephen Fry reads it and it just switches me off or it's comforting.”
Harington has also said that because he loves the Harry Potter books so much, he knew the moment the role was offered to him, he would take it.
It's also nice to think that, because of Industry, Harington has not only signed on for a role in Harry Potter but has also said he’s thought about returning to the Jon Snow character at some point down the line. A sequel series about his character was in development for years, but it ultimately went nowhere. Now, however, Harington has proposed a world where a story like that can be told. It just takes the right team to bring it to life.
Hearing all this makes me more excited for him in season 2 of Harry Potter, and now I just want the new show to premiere as soon as possible.
You can watch the premiere of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on Dec. 25, 2026. You can also watch all eight movies on HBO Max.
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