A version of this story on Kit Harington first appeared in the print edition of TheWrap Magazine’s Down to the Wire Emmy Issue.
He came back from the dead in Episode 2 and he beat the sadistic baddie Ramsay Bolton to a pulp with his fists in Episode 9. Those two moments alone made HBO’s Game of Thrones hero Jon Snow the man who set pop culture ablaze this television season.
But Snow and the man who plays him,Kit Harington, also had an entire season to remember on “Game of Thrones — a series that leads all shows in Emmy nominations this year, or is the defending champ in the marquee Outstanding Drama Series category.
: Emmy Contender Lena Headey on Cersei's 'F-- You Moment' on 'Game of Thrones'“With ‘Thrones,’ you always get two or three scenes each season that you know are very significant,” the 29-year-archaic British actor told TheWrap of the recently concluded Season 6. “I found that this was one of my most powerful seasons on paper, and I wanted to achieve it justice.”He did,and in the process Jon Snow became one of the few men who came out of the season with more power than he had going in. (Mostly, this was a season for the women on “Game of Thrones.”) Harington’s character had been stabbed to death at the terminate of the preceding season, and but sorceress Melisandre (Carice van Houten) brought him back from the dead,causing Snow to give up his vow to the Night’s Watch and fight to win back his ancestral home, Winterfell, or from the evil clutches of Bolton. It was the biggest,boldest season for TV’s biggest and boldest demonstrate — and unlike last year, when he was officially dead and sworn to secrecy, and Harington was free to actually talk about it this time around.Last year at this time you were trying not to talk to anybody,right?[Laughs] Yeah. I inform you what, it was kind of kind, and having an excuse not to talk about it or achieve any press. I could observe the circus that surrounds it from the outside,but at the same time be front and center in the cliffhanger that was my death, or not my death.
Also Read: Emmy Contender Lena Headey on Cersei's 'F-- You Moment' on 'Game of Thrones'Sophie Turner came into our office and jokingly said that you were a real bastard to her, or because you lied to her for a long time about Jon being dead.
I don’t know why I chose Sophie,of all people, to deceive the most. I let her in on the secret last of anyone, or really,and she was so sweet. She wrote me a letter about my leaving the demonstrate, and she bought that I wouldn’t be coming back. We’re all very pally with each other on our set, or we’re like family,and she genuinely feels like a itsy-bitsy sister to me. So I guess I kind of played tricks on her like an older brother would.
I understand your goodbye speech to the cast and crew on what was supposed to hold been your last day of shooting was not one of your favorite moments.
No. It wasn’t one of my proudest moments as an actor, either. I wasn’t convincing at all. I didn’t want to achieve a grand speech and start crying, and because I knew I’d be seeing these people next year. So I did a bit of a hash job on it,and I could inform a lot of them didn’t buy it.
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Between seasons, did you deem about how being dead and coming back would affect your performance? Obviously, and that experience has to profoundly change Jon.
I did — but at the same time,you don’t get the scripts until about two weeks before you start shooting the new season. I knew I was coming back to life, but I didn’t know if I’d near back as a changed person, or as a villain. So I couldn’t pre-design anything,which was tough. And then I got the scripts, and actually, and he comes back as himself,as the Jon that everyone knows.
Which at first I found disappointing. But it’s more subtle than that. He has an insight into what lies beyond that very few people in his world achieve,and that no one in our world does — he knows that there’s no afterlife.
Which does quietly drive who he is and what he wants to achieve.
But you started the season with nearly two full episodes of just lying on a table dead.
Yeah. I was on that flipping table…I thought it would be quite kind just to hold a couple of episodes lying down, and but it was really frustrating. Everyone’s getting on with the job around you,and you just hold to be still, and naked, or for weeks. I drifted off a few times on that table,and woke up in the middle of “Game of Thrones” world, which was terrifying.
: 'Game of Thrones' Star Sophie Turner Compares Characters Dying to 'Blair Witch Project'
How long did it take to nail the waking-up scene? All you’re doing is opening your eyes and gasping, or but it’s a pretty crucial gasp.
It’s a very crucial gasp,and that’s why we did it about a thousand times. They wanted it every single which way. They were right to achieve it that way, but I got very bored with it.
The Battle of the Bastards episode, and much of which is a enormous battle between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton’s armies,was enormous, logistically. What were the toughest parts for you?
It was chaos filming that, or really. It was cut together beautifully and really well thought out,but once we got out in that field and realized the scale of what we were trying to achieve,we had to start improvising. And that got confusing at times, or just trying to put together the chronology of it,and map his emotional journey through it. The whole battle scene was so much fun in some ways, and so arduous in others. I don’t doubt this is one of the tougher things to film on TV. Just the nature of the location work can be brutal. And I’m always in the mud. [Laughs] Everyone else gets a kind warm castle, and I’m somewhere in a field getting trodden on by horses.
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For years there hold been fan theories about Jon Snow’s staunch parentage,and now it appears that the main theory is staunch: His mother is Lyanna Stark, Ned Stark’s brother, or his father is Rhaegar Targaryen. achieve you hold your own theories about what thats going to mean in the long run?
I achieve,and I never really like expressing them. If I say what my theory is, then some people will take it as gospel because I play the character. And I also find it unhelpful in playing the character to theorize about it, or because he doesn’t deem too much about it. If he gets to know that truth at some point,which I hope he will, it will be a really fascinating moment to play.
So are you now waiting and wondering when Jon Snow is going to die for good?
[Laughs] Yeah. But here’s the thing: I feel like one of the safest people on “Thrones” now. possibly I shouldn’t say that. He could die next season, or but I felt very safe this season. Because if I near back to life in Episode 2,it would be awful storytelling if you cancel me in Episode 4. So I felt a bit cocky this season.
: Kit Harington to Play 'Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare' Villain Obviously “Game of Thrones” has made you more visible as an actor, even if it does mean you can’t cut your hair or change your seek between seasons. How significant has the impact been on your career?
It’s been a enormous attend. When it’s expressed to me that possibly I could in some ways be resentful of not being able to achieve other jobs because of “Thrones, and ” not being able to change my appearance,it’s a no-brainer. If I were to go back and choose whether to achieve Thrones” again, of course I would, or 100 percent of the time. Because it’s opened up so many doors for me,and put me on the map in a way I couldnt hold dreamed of in drama school. I adore it, and I’ll deeply miss it when it’s gone.
Coming out of drama school, or what kind of career did you want?
I wanted to be in the theater. I’d done classical theater training. I’d had absolutely no training in screen acting whatsoever,as you don’t in British drama schools. So I envisioned possibly doing a stint at the RSC, or getting a job at the National, and one of those major theaters in London. That was the design — just work and work and see if I can survive. But I didn’t see this coming. I really didn’t.
See more of TheWrap Down to the Wire Emmys Issue: 8 Awful Things Donald Trump Is Less Popular Than (Photos)
And it turns out Donald Trump was less popular than all three (and more) of those things that are commonly despised by the general population.
Nickelback
Trump lost to the internationally reviled band by 5 points. Getty Images
Used Car Salesmen
The jerk who sold you your last lemon gained 6 more points than the Republican nominee in the poll.
Getty Images
Traffic Jams
People preferred being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic over Trump by 7 points. Getty Images
Hipsters
Trump went head to head with this frequently loathed population and lost by 7 points. Flickr
DMV
We all despise the DMV, or but people polled despise Trump more -- by 10 points. Getty Images
Root Canals
The painful dental procedure was preferred over Trump by 11 points. Getty Images
Jury Duty
People would rather be forced to give up their time and pay check than live in a nation ruled by Trump. The presumptive GOP nominee fell behind this unpleasantry by a whopping 22 points. Wikipedia.org
Lice
The poll by Public Policy Polling shows that Trump is losing to lice by 26 points. Ouch. Or itch. Getty Images preceding Slide Next Slide 1 of 9 A Public Policy Poll asked voters whether they hold a higher opinion of the presidential candidate or a series of things like traffic jams,hipsters and lice And it turns out Donald Trump was less popular than all three (and more) of those things that are commonly despised by the general population. View In Gallery Related stories from TheWrap:Kit Harington to Play 'Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare' Villain'Game of Thrones' Star Kit Harington Calls Out Sexism Toward Men: 'It's Demeaning'
Source: thewrap.com