Kit Harington opens up about 6-week rehab stint after Game of Thrones' final season
Topics: Kit Harington, Celebrity, Game of Thrones
Danni King
Featured Image Credit: Variety
Topics: Kit Harington, Celebrity, Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has opened up about choosing the check in to a rehab facility after the HBO series ended for good.
In a new interview, the Jon Snow actor, 39, sat down with fellow Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage to discuss everything from sobriety to coping with fame.
The two actors kicked things off by talking about Game of Thrones, with Dinklage - who played Tyrion Lannister in the series - asking Harington what he did as soon as the eighth and final series finished filming in 2019.
"I decided to go to rehab as Episode 1 [of the eighth season] was airing, and I was there for six weeks. I needed to get sober. I needed to get my head on straight," Harington candidly revealed in the chat, as part of Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors series.
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"I was like, 'Wait a minute, there’s loads of press that needs to be done. You need to be front and center.' But it was a good decision to go, 'Actually, I’m checking out. I can’t do this'."
He went on to admit that he didn't watch the final season of Game of Thrones and after his six-week rehab stint, he decided to take a year off work to "get sorted".
However, Harington's acting comeback didn't go as planned.
"Right as I’m going to reengage with work, COVID hit. So it was this very strange period after the show ended," he added.
The break worked out well for Harington, who said that it gave him time to "figure out who I was" and whether he wanted to "do this anymore" after spending a lot of Game of Thrones working from a "place of pain".
It's not the first time Harington, who is married to Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie, has spoken about his journey to sobriety. He previously explained how addiction had led him to rehab, with alcohol being one of the contributing factors.
In a previous chat with GQ Hype, the actor noted how he was "lucky" to have gotten sober before becoming a father. He and his wife welcomed a son in 2021, followed by a daughter in 2023.
He added that at one point it felt “physically and emotionally impossible for me not to drink again.”
Touching upon his recovery, Harington said, "The fact that I am proud of getting sober is in and of itself a mark of being an entirely different person. And now, every set I step onto, whatever work I do, I’m proud of, because I know I put everything into it.