Slaving over his new role
Kit Harington has stepped away from his TV gig to play a gladiator in this big-screen blockbuster
KIT Harington’s acting career has been anything but normal. While still at university he starred as Albert in the Olivier Theatre’s awardwinning production of War Horse.
He then skipped the usual struggling actor phase, instead shooting straight into stardom as the beloved character Jon Snow in the fantasy TV epic Game of Thrones.
He reprises the role in the show’s fourth-season debut next month.
The 27-year-old said the exceptionally large scale and scope of Game of Thrones helped prepare him for his first leading film role as a gladiator in the action film Pompeii.
“My first job was in Thrones and that’s what I thought TV was,” he said.
“When I moved into film from Thrones, I remember saying to myself ‘this is no different’. Thrones really does have a film budget and has a film feel about it, and is very filmic in how it’s done and how long we take to shoot scenes.
“The only major difference between Thrones and something like Pompeii is in Thrones I get a tiny little trailer and there are not many perks around it. You don’t get a truck making you a lovely latte, whereas in Pompeii I had everything handed to me – trainers, a big trailer. To be honest I’m not really bothered by big trailers, but I did like having the trainer and nutritionist.”
Harington spent months
I try to ask everyone to go for a drink to really get to know each other person to person
getting into shape for his role as Milo, a slave turned gladiator who challenges Rome’s stranglehold on the thriving Italian city of Pompeii.
While plenty of female fans will appreciate Harington’s chiselled abs, he said it was all about looking the part.
“For me the first thing to look at when approaching this role was to look like someone who had to fight for their life every day. You’d be doing a lot of push-ups and a lot of strength work, like the same way I’d prepare if I was going to be playing a boxer. I had to be very lithe, very fit.”
Kiefer Sutherland, star of the TV series 24, plays the remorseless Roman senator who killed Milo’s family and soon threatens the beautiful young aristocrat Cassia, played by Aussie actress Emily Browning.
In true English style, Harington said he liked to get to know his co-workers over a pint.
“Emily and Kiefer and I went for a couple of drinks. I think it’s important in film work that you get to know your co-stars off-screen.
“Whenever I first meet everyone at the read-through I try to ask everyone to go for a drink to really get to know each other person to person. Luckily I got along really well with Emily.”
After four months of filming, Harington took the time to visit the real Pompeii.
“I had a real overriding urge to go and see the place,” he said. “It was really moving. It was a very kind of eerie place in lots of ways. It was weird having pretended to be there for four months and then actually being in that environment.” Pompeii is in cinemas now.