Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has opened up about the “mental health difficulties” he faced after the show came to an end.
The actor checked into a mental health and wellness retreat after wrapping on the final season of Thrones in 2019 to seek treatment for “personal issues”.
Appearing on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show this week, Harington spoke about the toll that working on the show had taken on his mental health.
“I went through some mental health difficulties after Thrones, and during the end of Thrones, to be honest,” he explained. “I think it was directly to do with the nature of the show and what I had been doing for years.”
Harington took a year-long break from acting after the end of the show, before returning with one episode of the anthology series Modern Love.
“Coming back to work, and deciding what to take and what to choose, you couldn’t predict the pandemic, so just when I was wanting to come back to work, the pandemic hit,” he said. “It was like, ‘oh for God sake.’
“Doing this Modern Love episode was a bit like, you don’t have to live in that intense place all the time. Why don’t you do something that takes the weight off? Why don’t you do something fun? I think that was part of my thinking on this one.”
Production started earlier this year on the Game of Thrones prequel House of Dragon, which doesn’t star Harington.
It was forced to take a brief break last month after one of the crew members on set contracted coronavirus.
For help and advice on mental health:
- ‘Am I depressed?‘ – Help and advice on mental health and what to do next
- Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians
- Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day