Kit Harington was going through some stuff in 2018 and 2019 especially. He was filming the final seasons of Game of Thrones and saying goodbye to a character which made him incredibly famous. He was struggling with alcoholism, and there were many stories and rumors about his behavior around then too, including stories about Kit cheating on Rose Leslie, who was his official girlfriend and then his wife. By the last season of Game of Thrones, Kit was a complete mess and he knew it. He checked into rehab in 2019 and by all accounts, has been living a much healthier life ever since. Kit and Rose welcomed a son earlier this year (and we still don’t know the baby’s name). This month, Kit has been promoting new projects, and he gave an interview to the Sunday Times about getting sober and dealing with depression, alcoholism and suicidal feelings.
Being in a bad place: Kit revealed that he “went through some pretty horrible stuff” after Game of Thrones ended in 2019. “Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol… You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there’s no way out, that’s just who you are. And getting sober is the process of going, ‘No, I can change.’ One of my favourite things I learnt recently is that the expression ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spots’ is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots. I just think that’s the most beautiful thing. It really helped. That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life.”
Alcohol was the main problem: He previously checked into the Privé-Swiss retreat in Connecticut back in May 2019, noting that he was treated for “mainly alcohol” during his stay. “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues,” Harington’s rep told PEOPLE at the time.
He experienced suicidal thoughts. “Yes of course. I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things,” he explained, adding that he hoped being open about it would “maybe help someone, somewhere. But I definitely don’t want to be seen as a martyr or special. I’ve been through something, it’s my stuff. If it helps someone, that’s good.”
It took a toll on his marriage to Rose Leslie: “You can imagine the stresses that it causes to those around you… I will say about my addictions that I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked up with them. So they came as quite a surprise to the people around me. Which is quite often the case, I guess.”
On fatherhood: Harington admitted that the first three months of fatherhood were “slightly torture,” describing it as “a kind of hell” before he got the hang of things. “There’s something about having a child that is the most physically draining thing. My hat goes off to any single parent. Any single parent, you’re a f—ing genius. I don’t know how you do it. Because it’s more exhausting than everything I did on Thrones.” The proud dad made sure to clarify that life is “wonderful” now with his growing family. “I have a child and my relationship is brilliant … I’m a very, very happy, content, sober man.”
[From the Sunday Times via People]
I’m glad that he’s in a good place right now and I hope he continues to work the program which helps him and he continues to do maintenance on his sobriety and his mental health. There was a lot of darkness around him and he did seem very unhappy in those years. It’s good that he realized he needed help and he needed to change. The part about a leopard being able to change his spots is fascinating to me. It’s always the debate, especially when we talk about mental health and addiction, about just how much change people are really able to make long-term. Can we change our natures? Can we overhaul our lives and will it “stick”? I hope so.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
They seem to me like a couple perpetually on the rocks
Agree. I just went down a rabbit hole of their relationship timeline(s) and it seems they’ve been on and off a LOT since 2012.
I hope it works out for him. It’s very hard to keep sober. Not an alcoholic myself but a child of one who has never managed to be sober so far.
Totally agree with him on single parenting. I have so many moments being a parent where I just am amazed that people are able to be a single parent. There’s just so many day to day things where I wouldn’t know what to do without my partner. I guess you just do what you have to because there’s no other option, but we really should support single parents so much more as a society.
This interview didn’t give me the impression of a happy man, quite the opposite. And then why the need to have four publicists with him during the interview? I hope I’m wrong but this doesn’t sound good in my opinion.
He’s appearing in a Marvel movie. I doubt he’s allowed to talk to anyone without tons of publicists around.
A publicist is OK but four? There are so many actors who work in the Marvel and we have never heard of four publicists present at their interviews.
Even the reporter didn’t paint a nice picture of him in the article.
@Carla Well yeah. He wasn’t just talking about any old thing. He was discussing his addiction issues. You’re really shocked that Marvel/Disney insisted on tons of PR all around for that?
I think that you’re never really “done”-it takes constant work to be checking in with yourself, and dealing with all the inevitable stresses in life and trying to use whatever coping mechanisms you learned in your program or rehab. I absolutely believe you can change, but it’s not like switching a light on and voila, you’re “fixed.” You need to keep at it.
I find him inscrutable. This was a pretty revealing article and I still feel like I know nothing about him.
Its the capricorn way, we are extremely private.
My family has a history of Alcoholism and sadly I have dealt with this with many relatives including my children also.. it is my biggest heartbreak.
Our lives and celebrations are surrounded with alcohol and people seem to think that you can only have a good time with a drink in your hand and two in your bloodstream.. when in fact alcohol ruins more families and lives than we can imagine.
Anyone who faces their addiction especially alcoholism is someone who deserves my respect, I pray he stays sober and many others take a hard look at their own lives and drinking.
I am rooting for him! And her! She’s working right now and I think it’s probably ok for him to take a break and be the at-home dad for awhile.
My father was an alcoholic who died at 54 at work while trying to dry up too suddenly (we found out the withdrawal part a decade later.). I went to school in psychology and it left me pretty disillusioned about the low rate of success overall… but then my father in law AND my step father both gave up drinking and smoking in their fifties and sixties prompted especially by health and both have been sober for a decade, I am amazed by them. It shows me you can change, it can just take a while. I commend Kit here, I don’t think he needs to sound super happy, what he’s going through is rough. Super cool to learn that about changing spots!
I am so sorry about your father. It breaks my heart that most people don’t know or accept the dangers of quitting alcohol cold turkey & I commend your dad for trying to get sober. Virtual hugs.
I agree that the success rates of sobriety are depressing, but I took psychology as well & paid attention to how they measured success. If success is deciding you’ll quit drinking and never touch it again….yeah, that’s going to be so low & unrealistic for the bulk of people getting sober. It’s a process. I relapsed once & someone said “well, that didn’t work, what you going to do now?!” And I said “I was sober 364 days out of the last year. I am going to keep doing what I was & redouble my efforts.” I’ve now been sober over 4 years & most people in my life consider me a success, but the surveys may not.
Thanks so much *hugs*, yeah, I didn’t even know about the dangers of withdrawal for the longest time. That’s a really really good point, our lives don’t have to be black and white and I commend you, you’re doing awesome! Sending good vibes your way and to everyone else out there doing their best.
My dad has been sober for almost 30 years, and I’m so proud of him and so grateful to him. His father died from alcoholism, via suicide.
Sending good vibes to your dad. Alcoholism is so so hard, and especially when combined with depression, PTSD and other factors…
I decided to stop drinking almost 10 months ago. I wasn’t the kind of alcoholic you hear about who blacks out, wakes up in a gutter, puts themselves in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. I probably didn’t even fit the clinical definition of alcoholic. But I very much abused alcohol to cope with my depression and anxiety. It was the thing I looked forward to most of all. I was either drinking or looking forward to drinking; those were the two states of my existence.
Quitting was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself, but it made some parts of my life harder. Short-term, I felt so much better. No more hangovers! Such better sleep! I was like a new person! But my anxiety was so, so bad, and I had no way to cope with it that was healthy or sustainable. I started taking fluoxetine and went through a few months where I had sometimes twice-weekly therapy sessions just to get through it. I was sometimes almost unable to function. But I got through it, and I will never drink again.
I hope Kit is able to stay sober and find happiness. Life is hard, man.
A huge congratulations on quitting & I relate to the anxiety piece. Mine got soooooo bad when I quit drinking, but is so much better now. Good on you for climbing over that f-ing mountain!
My tool kit for anxiety used to be “Drink!” but I’ve added other things over time slowly. When I get anxiety I now have: meditation, deep breathing, tapping, yoga, kettlebells, cold plunging, petting my cat, calling a sober friend, gratitude lists, reading, tv shows, podcasts. letting myself cry in peace, music on loud, taking walks, & meetings of other sober peeps to remember why drinking will only ever make things worse.
Ugh, I’m still in the spending too much time recovering from drinking, thinking about drinking, or drinking. Weirdly I quit smoking cigarettes and my alcohol use skyrocketed. I’m still working on healthy ways to deal with my anxiety.
I still suspect that Jon Snow’s part in the final season was cut a lot because he wasn’t able to do the work they needed from him. He barely has any lines in the last 50% of the season. People blame the writers, and there is blame there. But I also think they were having a hard time working with an actor who was very affected by his addiction.
I doubt that. Not that he wasn’t messed up but I think it was at least a functional messed up (unless it came to generating screen chemistry with his leading lady).
The GOT showrunners are just that terrible.
After they realised people weren’t as excited about Jon and Daenerys as they’d expected, they pretty much decided to make Dany the villain and Jon the joke. That’s just how their writing veers. They dunked on lots of characters and their arcs in GOT just because they found them boring, enjoyed torturing them, or found it amusing to play favourites.
That actually happens more than you’d think.