Kit Harington plays one of the biggest heroes on the biggest show in TV history, and yet, he still isn’t above talking about negative reviews. Specifically, he’s willing to share just how much he doesn’t care about them, and isn’t interested in hearing a review that is critical of the final season of “Game of Thrones.”
“How I feel about the show right now is quite defiant,” said Harington in a new interview with Esquire. “I think no matter what anyone thinks about this season—and I don’t mean to sound mean about critics here—but whatever critic spends half an hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgment on it, in my head they can go fuck themselves.”
He goes on to explain that his reason for sounding so “defiant” is fueled by the fact that he is so intimately tied to the series that he knows how much blood, sweat, and tears went into the production of the final season of “Game of Thrones.” That being said, perhaps, he could have sugar-coated his feelings, just a wee bit?
Now, if you’re a regular reviewer, and not a critic, then you may think you dodged an arrow from Harington. Well, not exactly. While he doesn’t want you to go fuck yourself, he does have strong words for anyone that is “let down” by the finale.
“Now if people feel let down by it, I don’t give a fuck—because everyone tried their hardest,” he explained. “That’s how I feel. In the end, no one’s bigger fans of the show than we are, and we’re kind of doing it for ourselves. That’s all we could do, really. And I was just happy we got to the end.”
That being said, the actor would later talk about his feelings on the project when he first read the script over a decade ago. And perhaps a bit surprisingly, Harington was not an instant fan. But since it was HBO, he was willing to look past his disinterest.
“To me, looking back, when I read the pilot way back in 2009, I remember thinking, ‘What is this crock of shit?’” said Harington. “‘I don’t understand this. I’m going to have to read this again.’ And I read it again. And I’m like, I still don’t get this shit at all. I think it’s kind of weird, but it’s HBO and alright, let’s do it. I would love to get this. And I think that’s what people feel when they start watching it.”
Despite Kit Harington’s apparent distaste for negative reviews and disinterested viewers, he may not have to worry about that at all for the final season. Episode 1 was released on Sunday and was met with near-universal praise from fans, leading many to think that “Game of Thrones” will go out with a bang, as it should.