Game Of Thrones’ Kit Harington speaks to heat
The loved-up Game Of Thrones star talks to Boyd Hilton about his new Gunpowder drama, fancy dress and his acclaimed arse
bout two hours after we A meet Kit Harington for the lovely chat you’re about to read, news breaks that he’s engaged to his long-term partner and Game Of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie. Which perhaps explains why the 30 year old seems in such a good mood during our group session alongside a few radio reporters (you’ll also be able to hear highlights from this conversation on heat’s Unmissables podcast – subscribe now).
He’s here at BBC HQ to talk about the new three-part epic historical drama Gunpowder, in which he not only stars as Guy Fawkes’ co-conspirator Robert Catesby, but which he also co-created and produced for BBC1. Happy as he is to also discuss Got-related topics, such as the legendary Jon Snow/daenerys sex scene, he reveals absolutely nothing about the engagement news and, at one point, blithely refers to Rose as “my girlfriend”.
But he does have other reasons to be very cheerful. Gunpowder is dazzling stuff – his female lead is the great Liv Tyler, and the series is going out in a bold Saturday night slot. And Kit seems winningly at home with the fact that his GOT character has become so iconic, it’s now giving him the power to get his own shows commissioned. Amazingly for an A-lister, he also shows up two minutes early, without an entourage. “I’m
that dull,” he says. Not dull at all – more like in a really chipper, I’m-engaged to-the-love-of-mylife type of mood…
Were you pleased to be able to use your Game Of
Thrones horse-riding and sword-play skills when you were filming Gunpowder?
I was a bit smug… There was one point where all the other boys [in the cast] were sitting on their horses and they were all over the place, and I was just standing there, controlling mine. And I did throw my sword around a bit to show off my skills. To the point where all the other boys were like, “Yeah, yeah mate, come on now – you’re
being a bit of a knob.”
Do you ever feel you’d just like to wear jeans on set for once?
I may actually have a problem, which is that when I put on jeans for a role, I don’t feel like I’m playing a character. I’ve been doing roles for so long where I’m in cloaks and very specific types of leathers. So when I put on my Jon Snow outfit, I suddenly feel like, “Yes, I am a character.” The weight of the costume helps, too. There’s this leather tabard that I wear – it kind of bolts in, and it weighs a tonne, but I love that tabard. The woman who designs the costumes, Michelle Clapton, is a genius, and they are a big part of what makes GOT so special. It’s so different when I do a modern role, like when I did the Spooks film
[The Greater Good in 2015] – I was basically wearing what I would normally wear, and I found it really hard to find that character.
Will you ever cut your hair?
I’m thinking of starting a sweepstake on when I’ll get it cut. I’d like to cut it off for charity, maybe. I have got quite attached to it, I must say. It is funny the amount of attention it gets.
With Halloween on the way, have you seen people in fancy dress as Jon Snow?
Do you know what – recently I went to a 30th birthday party, and the theme was “bad taste”. I was in Aberdeen, and I left it really late to get a costume. So I went to the one costume shop that was open in Aberdeen, and the woman who worked there said, “You know, you really look like the guy from Game Of Thrones, and I’ve got a Gameof Thronesoutfit.” And she pulled out a Jon Snow costume, and Rose just whispered in my ear, “I won’t love you if you don’t [wear it]… You should do it”.
Amazing. What happened?
I went to the bad-taste party dressed as Jon Snow. Which was really embarrassing. The people bringing round canapés were looking at me, thinking, “You saaaad man! You’ve come to a party dressed as your character.” I think the woman in the shop realised who I was as I was leaving. But that’s even sadder – me going to a fancy dress shop and buying a Jon Snow costume.
Are you OK with the fact that you’ll always be remembered for Jon Snow no matter what else you do?
Well, I was talking to Liv Tyler earlier about the fact that she will always be remembered for Lord
Of The Rings, and she was saying that it never really goes away and that you’ll be associated with that part forever. But I see it as being in a really privileged position. How many people have experienced something like Lord Of The Rings or Game Of Thrones? Very, very few, and if that means I have to live as Jon Snow for the rest of my life, and it helps me get work, then what is there to complain about? It does get tiring sometimes, obviously, but would I want it any other way? No.
Is this Gunpowder series a passion project?
I wouldn’t necessarily say that, but the character I’m playing, Robert Catesby, is an ancestor of mine [Kit’s full name is Christopher Catesby Harington]. I also wondered why the Gunpowder Plot hadn’t really ever been dramatised – it’s such a significant event and with so many parallels to our own time. So I thought, “Someone should do that.”
Did you find out any juicy stories about your ancestor when you were making it?
Yes, when we were researching, we did read that a certain Lord Harington on my father’s side was in the Houses of Parliament when Catesby was trying to blow it up. And when Catesby’s head was
‘i’d like people to think there’s more to me than just my arse’
marched by after he’d been caught and decapitated, Harington is quoted as saying, “He’s an ugly fellow, isn’t he?” And I thought, “That’s brilliant – it’s dad’s side of the family slagging off mum’s side way back in 1605.”
How did you end up casting Liv tyler?
It was a complete stroke of luck. It’s not like I would even have thought to approach her. Out of the blue, she came to us after she’d been passed the script, and she told us she really liked it and would like to be involved and we said, “Yes, please!” We knew she could do a very good British accent and she is fantastic in it.
the violence in it is pretty graphic – did you worry about that?
This piece had to be historically accurate, and people were hung, drawn and quartered and tortured during this period. So I don’t think it is gratuitous. Do you prefer this kind of gritty historical drama to a glossier show like Downton? I’m not interested in the
Downton type of drama. I’m more interested in characters and their demons, and I think that’s what people want to watch. There’s a place for something soft and easy that makes you feel all flowery and funny inside, but that’s not what I want to make. I want to make dramas about people who are pushed to extremes. And Gunpowder is also a thriller, as well as a historical drama.
what do you like watching on tv at the moment?
I just watched The Handmaid’s
Tale, which was just astonishing, from the performances to the way it was directed and put together. There’s so much TV out there but that really grabbed my attention. I also watched the first episode of Ozark [on Netflix] and that was brilliantly done. But I think the BBC is also at the forefront of great drama at the moment, and I hope that ours is up there competing with those big shows on the global stage.
Finally, are you proud that your bottom was so universally hailed when you did your big love scene in Got with Daenerys [emilia Clarke]?
Yeah, I just wanted to get my arse out on TV. When you do a nude scene, you’re always going to get some wolf-whistling. Or, at least you hope you get that, but I’d like people to think there’s more to me than just my arse. [Smiles.]
Gunpowder starts 21 October, BBC1, 9pm. After the first episode airs, the whole series will be available to watch on BBC iplayer