L-R Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke – HBO/Helen Sloane(LOS ANGELES) — In a new interview with Variety, Kit Harington gets very real about the impending end of HBO’s Game of Thrones. The actor says moving forward after playing a character like Jon Snow for so many years definitely took a toll on him.
“I took off the costume, and it felt like my skin was being peeled away,” Harington told the publication about his final day on set. “I was very emotional. It felt like someone was shedding me of something.”
But the self-described regular “bloke” admitted that it was a while before he overcame his anxiety about having such a key role in such a popular show.
“I now look back and I go, well, ‘I was a f***ing integral part of that whole thing,'” Harington admits. “Jon was, and I am, and I’m proud of it. It took me a long time to not think, ‘I’m the worst thing in this.'”
“My darkest period was…the focus of the whole show coming onto Jon,” he said. “When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show…at the height of its power, the focus on you is f***ing terrifying.”
People shouting at him on the streets — even the president wanting to know if Jon was really dead — got to Harington.
“I felt very vulnerable. I had a shaky time in my life around there … That was a time when I started therapy,” he admits. “I had to feel very grateful for what I have, but I felt incredibly concerned about whether I could even f***ing act.”
Game of Thrones returns for its final season April 14 on HBO. Harington didn’t reveal any spoilers to Variety, but allowed, “I was satisfied with how his story ended.”
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