Kit Harington reveals he is now two and a half years sober
“I went through some pretty horrible stuff”
Since laying down his sword in Game of Thrones, Kit Harington has been fighting other battles. He tells @TheSTMagazine about surviving alcohol addiction and depression - and the first months of fatherhoodhttps://t.co/WXZpYdO86W
- The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) August 7, 2021
Kit Harington sat down with The Sunday Times to talk about surviving alcohol addiction, depression and fatherhood.
- Fatherhood and marriage are central to Harington’s new life of sobriety. He has been sober for two-and-a-half years following a stint in rehab. "Life is wonderful. I have a child and my relationship is brilliant … I’m a very, very happy, content, sober man."
- He was so depressed following the end of Game of Thrones, he thought about taking his own life. He got married and finished GoT in the same period, and was a period of intense emotion and physical exhaustion, and he wept a great deal. He still finds it difficult to talk about. "I went through some pretty horrible stuff. Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol."
- He finds fatherhood physically draining and his advice to anyone would be to say goodbye to their old life. He tries not to project his anxieties on his son.
- He doesn't like to be called sexy, he finds it demeaning. "It’s demeaning for both women and men. It’s demeaning for anyone to be categorised by their appearance, no matter how that might sound when some people might say it’s what gets me work. Well, I disagree with that...My acting. I would hope it would be something that I bring to screen that’s not just fucking how I appear."
- After rehab, and after his marriage nearly ended, lockdown happened and he and Rose Leslie were able to isolate and be together. He says she taught him kindness.
- His OCD was debilitating (such as kissing the floor three times before going on stage, tapping wood for luck, kissing a crucifix or pictures of his mum and brother) and he learned to manage it.
- He admits he handled fame badly and could be an asshole.
- Since rehab, Kit has quit smoking cigarettes and is working on kicking the habit altogether, since he still vapes.
- He takes some issue with Jon Snow on the show: "I actually don’t think Jon Snow was [the strong, silent male, the show-no-emotion type]. I think he felt he had to be. If you look at him, he’s very vulnerable, and I hope some of that vulnerability came through with what I was trying to do with him."
- There were four publicists sitting in on the interview and he called the next day to apologize.
Kit Harington photographed by Guerin Blask for The Sunday Times pic.twitter.com/WUNoXODAqe
- Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) August 7, 2021
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