Kit Harington had to join a mental health and wellness facility after the finale of GOT
Kit Harington, who is popularly known for his legendary role as ‘Jon Snow’ in the “Game of Thrones,” has recently opened up about the mental health struggles that he faced due to this series. While appearing on this week’s episode of SiriusXM’s ‘The Jess Cagle Show,’ the 34-year-old actor said that he checked into a wellness retreat after the 8 season-long series came to an end, to take a break. “I went through kind of some mental health difficulties after Thrones and during the end of Thrones, to be honest,” Harington explained. “It was directly to do with the nature of the show and what I’ve been doing for years.”
After the legendary HBO series ended back in 2019, Kit’s rep told E! News that the actor was attending a program in Connecticut to “work on some personal issues.” While reflecting light on this topic, Kit Harington shared that taking a break was good for his mental health and that he is really happy to have taken that decision. “I think I took a sort of a break after Thrones where I said, ‘I don’t want to work for a year. I want to really kind of concentrate on myself,’” he said, “and I think I’m really happy I did that.”
While Kit Harington might have suffered from mental health issues and other difficulties during the filming of “Game of Thrones,” he still has a lot of gratitude towards the show and is very proud of what it became in all these years.
“Part of the journey since it finished…was just becoming proud of that show, and not running away from it,” he said, “not running away from what it was, and who I played in it, but just owning it and being proud of everything about it.” He is also very thankful for the show since it gave him his family, his wife Rose Leslie, whom he met on the sets of GOT. The couple then ended up marrying each other in 2018 and welcomed a baby boy in February this year.
“I met my wife. My child is a direct result of Game of Thrones. I still have very, very good friends from that show. It did nothing but wonders for me,” Kit said. Continuing with the topic of being a new dad, Harington said that he had a good one and a half years despite the worldwide pandemic problems. “I had a quite profound and amazing experience during this last year and a half,” he told the host. “Of course, it was anxiety-inducing and strange and odd. And I didn’t see my friends and family. But on the whole, my friends and family are all healthy. I’m now a father. Like, on the whole, I had quite a very lucky experience.”
The ‘Pompeii’ star also talked about why his next project is so different from his role as Jon Snow.
Kit will soon be seen in Amazon Prime’s second season of Modern Love, in an episode called “Strangers on a Train.” He will play the role of a man named Michael, who meets and connects with a woman on a train. “Doing this ‘Modern Love’ episode was a bit like you don’t have to live in that intense place all the time. Why don’t you do something that takes the weight off?” Harington said. “Why don’t you do something fun? I think that was part of my thinking on this one.”
Kit Harington will also be seen in one of the most popular franchises this year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe installment, “Eternals,” releasing this November along with some of his GOT co-stars.
Game of ThronesKit HaringtonKit Harington and Rose LeslieKit Harington Game of ThronesKit Harington son