Game of Thrones star Kit Harington recently opened up about “mental scars” and how fame affected his life.
The 37-year-old actor detailed how he became addicted to alcohol while starring in the hit HBO series. Harington shared details during an upcoming episode of the podcast “The Hidden 20%.”
“People would treat me like the character. But in my life I have never had such a feeling at all. And that [led me to] “It left some psychological scars,” he said of his time as Jon Snow on “Game of Thrones” from 2011 to 2019.
Because fans expected him to be like the character he played, Harington said he tried to project “an image of complete sophistication and cool about what I was doing, but really afraid of to have everything.”
“It's a dangerous rabbit hole because you find all the bad things people say as well as the nice things,” he added.
Harington said he sought treatment for alcoholism immediately after the show ended and was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to Deadline.
“I realized my life depended on it,” he told podcast host Ben Branson. “Luckily it was in the right place at the right time. From there I managed to build a new life.”
Harington said his first rehab wasn't right. He explained that he “went into rehab drunk, got sober there and said, 'Fuck it, not you people in the circle.' No thanks.'”
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His next experience at a treatment center was better and led to him being diagnosed with ADHD. “And I pretty quickly left that behind me and said, 'I'm going to try to handle this on my own,' which didn't work after about four years,” Harington added.
Now, the actor spends most of his time with his family, including former Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie, whom he married in 2018, and his two young children.
“My mind immediately wants to go to everything else in the room,” he said of family time, saying that although he is “sober” and present at home, he sometimes gets “restless” while playing with his children.