“I kind of weirdly fell into being an action hero…I have no f— idea how that happened. You have to remind people that you want to act rather than just run around” – Kit Harington
As Kit Harington’s persona breaks from Jon Snow’s shadow, he is hoping his acting career leads him to roles with more opportunity to act and less time being spent as a swashbuckling action hero. For some of Jon Snow’s most loyal fans this may be a crushing defeat, but for Kit it is why he became an actor in the first place. “I kind of weirdly fell into being an action hero…I have no f— idea how that happened. You have to remind people that you want to act rather than just run around,” As Kit explained himself he couldn’t help but to laugh, “If I keep doing my own stunts in too many of those roles then I literally will turn into a stuntman, and that’s not what I got into this for.”
Good thing for Kit, he has already been able to stretch himself into more vivacious acting roles with his recently released film “Testament of Youth”. In the film, based on a 1933 memoir by Vera Brittain, Harington plays the doomed fiancé of the story’s lead, played by Alicia Vikander – her journey highlighting the female point of view of war during WWI.
While ditching his long dark locks in the film was easy with the help of a wig, his hair has become a celebrity staple in its own right, “Mmm, people love talking about my hair”. Harington goes further to clarify his feelings on what celebrity means to him, “I don’t accept celebrity, I think it’s a really confusing part of this job. You got into this job to play roles to depict characters, and celebrity is an unfortunate side effect of that – for me. I guess I understand why people ask questions about appearance.” With a laugh Harington added, “I understand why, I don’t know why.”
And in regards to Harington’s famed Jon Snow, though he is not able to discuss any information in detail, he did have this to say: “I’m really excited about Jon’s story because I’ve been waiting for this bit. It’s a slow build with Jon. I don’t want to peak too early with him—make him into this leader in season 2 and then everyone’s bored of him being that leader. He’s got to get there slowly. And this season it’s been really exciting doing that—really experiencing that with him. So I like that he’s growing up. I know it’s not a completely interesting answer.”
While Harington’s last statement summed up “Game of Thrones” fan’s feelings exactly, he knows their concern with Jon Snow’s fate is not nearly as titillating as the prospect of Harington’s career and the acting ground he seems ready to conquer—and he won’t need fire breathing dragons to do so.
Written by Zachary Layner
