Kit Harington gained international fame for his role as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. However, the hustle and bustle surrounding his series character bothered him – so much so that he sought help.
From 2011 to 2019, Kit Harington played the role of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, who we got to know as the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark. Additionally, Jon Snow is a member of the Night’s Watch, a military body that guards the Wall and thus protects the Kingdoms.
In an interview with Variety published on May 19, 2019, Kit Harington looks back on his time on the popular American fantasy series Game of Thrones. Harington became the “cliffhanger of a series” and the attention this generated was “terrifying” for him.
Spoiler alert: Below you can read massive spoilers for Jon Snow from season 5 of Game of Thrones.
Trailer for the first season of the HBO series “Game of Thrones”
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“It wasn’t a very good time in my life”
This bothered the actor: Jon Snow became the central focus of Game of Thrones, and that was something that didn’t sit well with actor Kit Harington. Although he often had the feeling that Jon Snow was “the weakest link in the chain,” that suddenly changed.
Suddenly everything revolved around this series character.
When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show, and a TV show is at its climax, the attention is terrifying.
It wasn’t a very good time in my life. I felt like I had to feel like the luckiest person in the world, even though I actually felt very vulnerable. I had a difficult time in my life back then – like many people in their 20s.
At that time, I started therapy and started talking to people. I had felt very insecure and never talked to anyone.
Kit Harington via Variety
Although the character dies in the fifth season, when Harington was out and about in Belfast he was approached and asked, “Are you dead?” Harington says he was “just another guy and not one who handles a lot of attention particularly well can.”
A head writer for Game of Thrones tried to convince viewers that Jon Snow had finally died, as you can read here from our film release colleagues.
This is how farewell was for him: Despite the enormous stress on set, saying goodbye to his series character and the team was not easy for him. At the end of filming, Harington “just cried.” But he noted that he was happy with how his story ended.
In an interview with Esquire published on April 15, 2019, he remembers the last day of filming:
On my last day of filming I felt good […]. Then they shouted, “Pack up!” And I just collapsed. It was a bout of relief and sadness that I couldn’t do this anymore.
It wasn’t so much about Jon. It was about no longer being in this world, no longer being able to smell these smells, no longer being able to fight these battles, no longer being able to be with these people – the whole package.
But the strangest thing was when we came off set and started taking the costume off and it felt like you were being skinned.
Kit Harington via Esquire
Fans believed that this couldn’t be the end of Jon Snow and were feverishly wondering about his fate. Only a small group of those responsible for the series knew about it at the time.
However, Kit Harington then revealed a big secret from Game of Thrones in order to avoid getting a parking ticket:
Kit Harington revealed a big Game of Thrones secret – didn’t get a ticket for it