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Christopher Catesby Harington (born 26 December 1986), known professionally as Kit Harington, is an English film, television and stage actor known for his starring role as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.

Background

He was born in London. He lived there until age eleven, when he and his family moved to Worcester, England. He is a graduate of the Worcester Sixth Form College and the Central School of Speech and Drama, where he majored in Theater.

Ironically for playing a bastard, Harington's ancestors include an Earl, a Viscount, and a line of Baronets, through which he can even trace descent from King Charles II of England, King William I of England, Hugh Capet, King of the Franks, and Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor. His ancestry is mostly English, Scottish, and Welsh.

One of Kit Harington's ancestors was actually Sir John Harington, who in 1596 invented the modern flush toilet - hence why they are colloquially known as "Johns". Sir John even installed one for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. The flush toilet remained fairly rare, however, until in the nineteenth century businessman Thomas Crapper commercialized the mass-produced flush toilet.[1]

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is Harington's first major television role, having previously appeared on stage in the play War Horse and Posh.

He stars in HBO's Game of Thrones as Jon Snow. He was announced in the role on 19 July 2009. He was part of the initial starring cast and remains a member of the starring cast for the seventh season. Before he was cast, fellow Thrones actors Iwan Rheon, Alfie Allen and Joe Dempsie previously auditioned for the role.

Harington's third audition scene was actually a scene between Jon and Ygritte from Season 3, even though at the time they weren't certain there would even be a third season. After being cast, Harington quickly read through the first four novels.[2]

Harington broke his ankle in July 2012, in the gap between filming for Season 2 and Season 3. After a night of partying he realized he lost the keys to his flat, so he tried to climb into his first-floor window, then fell. As Harington explained: "Everyone always says you must have done it on set horse riding or running across glaciers or something cool...I was an idiot. The 'invincibility of youth' and all that. I couldn’t even blame it on a film set. And I had avoided skiing for ages because I thought I’d break my ankle!" Actors' schedules were rearranged to give Harington maximum time to recover, and the Iceland shoot was pushed back a couple of weeks. The production also occasionally used a double for a few scenes, such as showing Snow walking in the distance (the actor having "such distinctive hair" helped with the illusion, the producers semi-joked). Producer David Benioff said that "By time we got to Iceland he was moving well enough so you couldn’t really tell."[3]

Costume designer Michele Clapton explained how the production team tried to accommodate Harington's injury: "Kit Harington was in a cast for a lot of the time. They asked me to create a boot to cover it, but it was impossible because it was a great big, white foot! We couldn’t shoot it at first because there was no way we could cover [his cast]. Later on he had a medical boot that he could take off, but he still couldn’t walk. We cut the back out of his [costume] boot so that he could put it on without having to actually step into it and just bound it to his leg. He managed really well, considering the amount of pain he was in. Thankfully he’s much better now, but that was a tricky one.[4]

Harington reprised his role as Jon in Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series and in a 2015 sketch for Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Harington is close friends with several cast members, particularly Richard Madden, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, John Bradley and Iwan Rheon.

Harington entered into a long-term relationship with co-star Rose Leslie, who played his character's on-screen love interest Ygritte. On September 26, 2017, it was a announced that they are engaged.[5] They were married on June 23, 2018.[6]

Snow

Main page: Snow

On June 16, 2022, James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter reported that a Game of Thrones sequel starring Kit Harington as Jon Snow was in development at HBO.[7] This was later confirmed by Emilia Clarke on June 22,[8] and then by George R.R. Martin on June 23.[9] According to Clarke and Martin, Harington himself pitched the series to HBO. A full writing staff is assembled and a showrunner is attached.

Credits

Starring

Game of Thrones: Season 1
Winter Is Coming The Kingsroad Lord Snow Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things The Wolf and the Lion
A Golden Crown You Win or You Die The Pointy End Baelor Fire and Blood
Game of Thrones: Season 2
The North Remembers The Night Lands What Is Dead May Never Die Garden of Bones The Ghost of Harrenhal
The Old Gods and the New A Man Without Honor The Prince of Winterfell Blackwater Valar Morghulis
Game of Thrones: Season 3
Valar Dohaeris Dark Wings, Dark Words Walk of Punishment And Now His Watch Is Ended Kissed by Fire
The Climb The Bear and the Maiden Fair Second Sons The Rains of Castamere Mhysa
Game of Thrones: Season 4
Two Swords The Lion and the Rose Breaker of Chains Oathkeeper First of His Name
The Laws of Gods and Men Mockingbird The Mountain and the Viper The Watchers on the Wall The Children
Game of Thrones: Season 5
The Wars To Come The House of Black and White High Sparrow Sons of the Harpy Kill the Boy
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken The Gift Hardhome The Dance of Dragons Mother's Mercy
Game of Thrones: Season 6
The Red Woman Home Oathbreaker Book of the Stranger The Door
Blood of My Blood The Broken Man No One Battle of the Bastards The Winds of Winter
Game of Thrones: Season 7
Dragonstone Stormborn The Queen's Justice The Spoils of War
Eastwatch Beyond the Wall The Dragon and the Wolf
Game of Thrones: Season 8
Winterfell A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms The Long Night
The Last of the Starks The Bells The Iron Throne

References


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