Former Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington has spoken out about his past struggles with addiction.
The British actor is best known for portraying Jon Snow in the hit fantasy drama, which came to an end after its divisive eighth season in 2019.
Shortly after Game Of Thrones aired its final episode, it was confirmed that Kit had checked into a wellness retreat to seek help for “personal issues”.
Reflecting on this in an interview with The Times, Kit explained: “Things that have happened to me since [Game Of Thrones] ended, and that were happening during [the show], were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol.”
He continued: “You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there’s no way out, that’s just who you are. And getting sober is the process of going, ‘No, I can change.’
“One of my favourite things I learnt recently is that the expression ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spots’ is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots. I just think that’s the most beautiful thing. It really helped.
“That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Kit said that his mental health struggles had become so severe that he experienced suicidal feelings.
“I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things,” he told the newspaper.
“Maybe [this interview will] help someone, somewhere. But I definitely don’t want to be seen as a martyr or special. I’ve been through something, it’s my stuff. If it helps someone, that’s good.”
After Game Of Thrones, Kit took a year-long break from his acting career, appearing in an episode of the Netflix crime drama Criminal and Amazon’s romantic anthology series Modern Love.
Earlier this year, it was reported he had welcomed his first child with his wife Rose Leslie, who he met while they were both appearing in Game Of Thrones.
- If you need help with a drinking problem, call the Alcoholics Anonymous national helpline for free on 0800 9177 650 or email help@aamail.org.
- For advice on how to reduce drinking, visit Drinkaware’s website or Alcohol Change UK.
- Find alcohol addiction services near you using this NHS tool.