HBO’s massively epic series “Game of Thrones” has a large ensemble cast spanning over a dozen actors. However, if anyone was asked who the “star” of the show is, they’d probably all point to Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow. Through the series’ first seven seasons, Harrington’s Snow has risen from a side character, and moral center of a world filled with villains, to the hero that is expected to save the entire world. And with that, Harrington has become one of the biggest names in Hollywood. So, it’s surprising that in a recent interview, the actor talks about how tough it was for him to adjust to this sudden fame.
Speaking to Variety, Harrington discussed why Season 8, the final season, of “Game of Thrones” is the biggest yet and why the process has been terrifying for the actor.
“They went balls out , I think is the term,” Harington said. “They could have easily set the same budget as they did for Season 7, but they went bigger.”
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With only six episodes to somehow wrap years and years’ worth of storylines, there’s a lot of pressure on the folks behind “Game of Thrones” to get it right. And a lot of that pressure falls on Harrington, who is, as we said, the star.
“Looking back at the entirety of ‘Thrones,’ there’ll be 70% of the scenes that I’ll just never be happy with. I’ve come to terms with that,” revealed the actor. “[With Season 8] I know who this is now, and I’m at peace with who this is. I just got a feeling that it’s the most satisfied I will be with my work as Jon Snow.”
“I now look back and I go, well, I was a fucking integral part of that whole thing,” Harington adds. “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.”
But as he alludes to, there was plenty of time when Harrington was afraid of the spotlight being on his character. And it all came to a head at the end of Season 5, which ended on a cliffhanger revealing that Jon Snow was killed. For the next year, people constantly asked the actor about his ‘Thrones’ fate and if he’d come back (of course, he eventually did).
“My darkest period was when the show seemed to become so much about Jon, when he died and came back,” Harington says. “I really didn’t like the focus of the whole show coming onto Jon — even though it was invalidating my problem about being the weak link because things were about Jon.”
He added, “When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show, and a TV show probably at the height of its power, the focus on you is fucking terrifying,”
However, Harrington has moved on from those fears and has embraced his character, no matter how it ends. The actor talked about the ending, saying, “The end of Jon’s journey, whatever that may be … I was satisfied with how his story ended.”
The final season of “Game of Thrones” premieres on April 14 on HBO.
