‘Game Of Thrones’ Actor Kit Harington Opens Up About His Mental Health Struggles
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Kit Harington says his fame from HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones caused him to struggle with mental health issues and alcoholism.
Speaking on the wellness podcast Hidden 20%, Harington said he entered rehab in 2019 for alcoholism, and was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while there.
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“I realized that my life was hinging on this,” he told host Ben Branson. “Luckily, it was the right place at the right time. I managed to forge a new life from there.”
Harington claimed that he “entered rehab drunk, sobered up in there, and went, ‘F— this, not you guys in a circle. No, thank you.’”
Harington eventually went to a second rehab facility, was where he was made aware of his ADHD.
“And I left that pretty quick and said, ‘I’ll try to deal with this by myself,’ which didn’t work after about four years,” he said.
Harington now says he’s “sober and “present,” and is focused on his son, 2 years old, and daughter, 6 months. He shares his kids with Game of Thrones co-star and wife, Rose Leslie.
“My head wants to go to every other thing in the room at once,” he said, adding that he is sometimes “restless” when he plays with his young children.
Game of Thrones, where he memorably played Jon Snow from 2011 until 2019, saw instant fame, which was hard on him.
Harington “tried to project this image of utter sophistication and coolness about what I was doing, but genuinely being sort of terrified about everything.”
That led to a downward spiral when it was coming to an end.
“That is a dangerous rabbit hole to fall down, because you find all of the bad stuff that people are saying as well as the nice stuff,” he said.
HBO is reportedly considering a Jon Snow spinoff.
Deadline has confirmed the project is still in exploratory stages. If the series come to fruition, it would chronicle the post-Westeros story of Jon Snow, aka Aegon Targaryen, with Harington expected to reprise his role.
Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report.
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