Kit Harington Credits Harry Potter With Helping Him Through Sobriety Struggle

Kit Harington is feeling warmer — a bit — towards the idea of reprising his iconic fan-favorite role of Jon Snow.

The actor — who’s set to return to HBO in the company’s upcoming Harry Potter series — told the Happy Sad Confused podcast Monday that he actually feels more comfortable with the idea of reprising the reluctant Game of Thrones warrior than he did in the past.

The topic was raised when Harington was asked about HBO’s Snow spinoff sequel that was developed several years ago and then shelved.

“We developed it two years or so,” Harington said. “I still think there’s a world in which something could work. I wouldn’t have gone into it in the first place if I didn’t. But I was very insistent at the start — as was HBO and George R.R. Martin — of like: ‘If we don’t find the right thing, let’s not do it. It’s much better if we don’t.’ After a little while of of thinking about it — it kind of was me — [I said], ‘This isn’t quite the right [story].'”

Continued Harington: “[But] now I’ve gone and done all these other things and now I feel more comfortable with that character and that world again and where it sits in my life.”

THR broke the news of the Snow development in 2022. In our cover story profile of Martin in January, we reported the initial idea was a tale of Snow living alone as a broken man with PTSD, having chased off his direwolf Ghost and thrown away his sword Longclaw. Harington wanted Jon to eventually die and to avoid being a hero.

The story echoed, in some respects, Harington’s personal struggles — entering rehab following an intense shooting experience on Thrones. Last year, a new writer (Quoc Dang Tran from Drops of God) came aboard to attempt to revive the sequel idea, possibility shifting the drama to the Mediterranean-like land of Essos.

Yet it was another franchise headed to HBO that helped Harington with his sobriety struggles — Harry Potter. Harington told the podcast that the Potter audiobooks were helpful in the wake of ditching alcohol. “My brain is incredibly busy, especially at night, and I’ve always found going to bed very difficult like and my brain doesn’t turn off,” he said. “When I got sober that got especially bad. So I started listening to Harry Potter audio books, and now they’re the thing I listen to every night.”

Harington was cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the Full Cast Audio editions of the Potter books, which were released last year. Last month, Harington was cast to join HBO’s live-action Harry Potter series, where he’ll play the dangerously narcissistic Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in season two.

“Lockhart is addicted to himself,” Harington quips. “It’s just a tiny step to my left [for me].”

Harington is currently promoting his role in a four-part TV adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities on MGM+, which was released Sept. 6.