‘Game of Thrones’ Star Kit Harington Reveals ‘Traumatic’ Addiction Struggles

Kit Harington spoke candidly about his struggles with addiction and his sobriety after the conclusion of Game of Thrones. Harington famously entered a rehab program after the HBO drama ended in 2019, and he discussed that process in a new interview with The Sunday Times this weekend. He also confirmed that he is now clean and sober.

“Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol,” Harington said. “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 favorite things I learned recently is that the expression ‘A leopard doesn’t change its spots’ is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots.”

Harington does not use social media and strives to stay out of the public eye, so many fans were surprised when he entered rehab since he had not public history with alcoholism or addiction. He has also not stated clearly since then whether he was completely sober or not. This new interview set the record straight and showed how profound the change in Harington has been.

“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,” he said.

Back in May of 2019, a rep for Harington said that he was in the Privé-Swiss retreat in Connecticut where he was being treated for “mainly alcohol.” However, his rep told PEOPLE: “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues.”

To some this indicated that Harington might not be looking for sobriety so much as a general reset, but now that doesn’t seem to be the case. Harington said: “I will say about my addictions that I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked up with them. So they came as quite a surprise to the people around me. Which is quite often the case, I guess.”

Harington also told The Sunday Times that there were plenty of other things for him to work on too, however, including his mental health and some suicidal ideation. He said: “I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things.” He also said that he hoped speaking about this topic publicly would “maybe 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.”

Harington spoke about other topics in the interview as well, including Game of Thrones, his new role in Modern Love and his upcoming role in Marvel’s Eternals. He also discussed his marriage and his infant son, saying: “I have a child and my relationship is brilliant … I’m a very, very happy, content, sober man.”