Kit Harington reveals why he often refuses selfies with 'Game of Thrones' fans
He also discusses an episode no one's ever seen before
Kit Harington has been in the news a lot lately - he’s been busy promoting his new BBC show about the Gunpowder Plot titled, er, Gunpowder, while Game of Thrones literally never stops being talked about, even during the long night between seasons.
No one had ever heard of Kit when he first took on the role on Jon Snow back in 2011, and at that time, not even he would have had a clue that he would go on to become one of the world’s biggest stars.
With Game of Thrones boasting the largest and most-obsessed fan base of any show in history (sorry Rick and Morty fans, you may eat Szechuan sauce off the floor but there’s not enough of you yet), it’s the least shocking news that Kit is constantly inundated with requests for pictures from fans.
However, like a lot of celebs, it’s not a part of the job he finds easy, and he often finds himself turning people away.
Jon Snow looking typically concerned
In an interview with the Guardian, Kit said: “Like, being in Spain and there being a crowd of 500, maybe 600 fans camped outside the hotel every day, and you have to get through them. It feels like being Bieber or something,” he said.
“I don’t particularly enjoy that. I don’t know. Do I? I’m glad I’ve experienced it, but… It’s a bit incessant.
“It makes me snappy and it makes me uncomfortable, and I turn into a grumpy person.”
So basically, too many photo requests turn Kit into, uh… Jon Snow.
While celebrities who sometimes ignore fans are often slated as not caring, it’s hard to put yourself in their position. Kit does still make a lot of time for his fans, but if he took a photo with every single one, we’d be waiting until 2033 to see Game of Thrones Season 8.
Kit doing his duty
However, there is one occasion when Kit will always refuse a photo request, and that’s when he’s out with his fiancee, and fellow GoT star Rose Leslie.
“Me and Rose, we never do a photo together,” he said, “because then it makes our relationship feel like… puppets. Like we’re a walking show.”
In the interview, Kit also revealed there’s an episode of Game of Thrones none of us have ever seen, but that the producers keep threatening to release to embarrass him.
It’s the original pilot, which was ditched and reshot when it eventually became the real first episode. A number of the characters - including Daenerys - were played by different actors.
“They made a lot of mistakes. It didn’t look right, didn’t feel right, had nothing different about it,” Kit said. “They [showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss] say, if I ever piss them off too much, they’ll release it on YouTube. Every now and then, they send me a screengrab, just as a threat.”
Personally, I really hope he does something extremely irritating on set next season. I would love to see that janky pilot.
(Images: Rex / HBO)
