Kit Harington has opened up about his time on Game of Thrones, telling SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show that it led to some “mental health difficulties” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
As the show wrapped in 2019, reports circulated that Harington had checked into rehab. This had nothing to do with the quality of the final season — as of several months later, the actor hadn’t seen it — and at the time, a source identified as a friend said, “He’s in the clinic predominantly for stress and exhaustion and also alcohol.”
Now, after some much-needed rest, Harington is speaking about the experience. “I went through some mental health difficulties after Thrones, and during the end of Thrones, to be honest,” he said. “I think it was directly due to the nature of the show and what I had been doing for years.”
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Afterwards, he took a break to “really concentrate on myself,” adding, “I’m really happy I did that.” However, the hiatus turned out to be a bit longer than he’d originally intended. “Just when I was wanting to come back to work the pandemic hit.”
Still, he recently filmed an episode of Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, and he’ll be appearing in theaters later this year as part of Marvel’s Eternals. As he said of his recent approach, “You don’t have to live in that intense place all the time. Why don’t you do something that takes the weight off? Why don’t you do something fun?”
