Kit Harington Started Going to Therapy Over the Reaction to Jon Snow’s Death

Being a star of one of the most talked-about shows in modern history isn’t all big money and fancy parties, as Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington can attest to. Harington spoke with Variety for an interview discussing the upcoming final season of the show, and revealed that the furor around Jon Snow’s death at the end of season five made for a very difficult time for him.

My darkest period was when the show seemed to become so much about Jon, when he died and came back,” Harington said. “I really didn’t like the focus of the whole show coming onto Jon — even though it was invalidating my problem about being the weak link because things were about Jon…When you become the cliffhanger of a TV show, and a TV show probably at the height of its power, the focus on you is f**king terrifyingYou get people shouting at you on the street, ‘Are you dead?’ At the same time you have to have this appearance. All of your neuroses — and I’m as neurotic as any actor — get heightened with that level of focus.”

Harington noted that his anxieties over the issue led to a dark time for him. “It wasn’t a very good time in my life,” he said. “I felt I had to feel that I was the most fortunate person in the world, when actually, I felt very vulnerable. I had a shaky time in my life around there — like I think a lot of people do in their 20s. That was a time when I started therapy, and started talking to people. I had felt very unsafe, and I wasn’t talking to anyone. I had to feel very grateful for what I have, but I felt incredibly concerned about whether I could even f**king act.”

The actor added that his perspective has changed since, stating, “It’s like when you’re at a party, and the party’s getting better and better. Then you reach this point of the party where you’re like, it’s peaked. I don’t know what I could find more from this. You realize, well, there isn’t more. This is it. And the ‘more’ that you can find is actually in the work rather than the enjoyment surrounding it.”

We’ll be able to see Harington’s final episodes as Jon when Game of Thrones premieres on April 14th.