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Kit Harington

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Kit Harington
Harington in 2014
Born
Christopher Catesby Harington

(1986-12-26) 26 December 1986 (age 37)
Acton, London, England
Alma materCentral School of Speech and Drama, University of London
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present

Christopher Catesby "Kit" Harington[1][2] (born 26 December 1986)[1][2] is an English actor. He rose to prominence playing the role of Jon Snow in the award-winning HBO television series Game of Thrones,[3] which garnered him a nomination for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award.[4] Harington also played lead roles in the films Pompeii, Testament of Youth, and Spooks: The Greater Good, as well as supporting roles in the films Silent Hill: Revelation and Seventh Son. In 2014, Harington had a voice role in How to Train Your Dragon 2.[5]

Early life and ancestry

Coat of Arms of the Barons Harington, ancestors of Christopher Catesby "Kit" Harington.

Harington was born in Acton, London,[6] to Deborah Jane (Catesby), a former playwright, and Sir David Richard Harington, 15th Baronet, a businessman.[7][8] His mother named him after Christopher Marlowe, whose first name was shortened to Kit,[9] a name Harington prefers.[10] Harington's uncle was Sir Nicholas John Harington,[11] 14th Baronet,[12] and his paternal great-grandfather was Sir Richard Harington, 12th Baronet. Through his paternal grandmother, Lavender Cecilia Denny, Harington's eight times great-grandfather was Charles II of England.[13] Also, through his father, Harington descends from Scottish politician Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.[14]

Harington was a pupil at the Southfield Primary School from 1992 to 1998. When he was 11, his family moved to Worcestershire[15][16] and he studied at the Chantry High School in Martley until 2003.[17] He became interested in acting after watching a production of Waiting for Godot when he was 14,[18] and he performed in several school productions.[17] He attended Worcester Sixth Form College, where he studied Drama and Theatre (2003–05). When he was 17, he was inspired to attend a drama school after seeing a performance by Ben Whishaw as Hamlet in 2004.[15][19] Harington moved back to London when he was eighteen and, a year later, attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 2008.[20][21]

Career

Harington at SDCC's 2013 Game of Thrones panel

Before acting, Harington originally wanted to become a journalist, a cameraman or a war correspondent.[22] While still at drama school, he landed the role of Albert in the National Theatre's adaptation of War Horse.[2][22][23] The play won two Olivier Awards and gained Harington a great deal of recognition. He was later cast in his second play Posh, a dark ensemble comedy about upper-class men attending Oxford University.[2] After War Horse, Harington auditioned for and landed his first television role as Jon Snow in the television series Game of Thrones. The show debuted in 2011 to great critical acclaim and positive reviews and was quickly picked up by the network for a second season.[24] Harington's role is largely filmed in Iceland and Northern Ireland.[25] In 2012, Harington was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television for the role.[26] Harington made his cinematic debut in 2012 as Vincent in Silent Hill: Revelation 3D. The horror film was based on the survival horror video game Silent Hill 3, and was a sequel to the film Silent Hill.[27] He was honoured with Actor of the Year at the Young Hollywood Awards 2013, which celebrates the best emerging young talent in film, music and television.[28]

Harington's first major lead role in a feature film occurred when he played Milo in the Pompeii. Production for the film commenced in 2013 and took place in and around Toronto. Some scenes were also shot in the actual city of Pompeii itself.[29] The film was a modest box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. That year, Harington also voiced Eret in How to Train Your Dragon 2,[5] which was a critically acclaimed, box-office success,[30] won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and received an Academy Award nomination.[31][32] In 2014, Harington also appeared alongside Jeff Bridges in the film Seventh Son, a poorly received fantasy–adventure film.[33] Harington played Roland Leighton, the main character's love interest, in Testament of Youth alongside Alicia Vikander and Emily Watson.[34] The film was released in wide distribution in the UK on 16 January 2015. Its world premiere was in The Centrepiece Gala, supported by the Mayor of London, at the British Film Institute London Film Festival in October 2014.[35][36][37]

In December 2014, it was announced that he would feature in Xavier Dolan's upcoming movie The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, with Jessica Chastain, Kathy Bates, Thandie Newton and Susan Sarandon.[38] Filming began in July 2016 in Montreal, Quebec and will run through to Spring 2017. He starred in the 2015 HBO comedy 7 Days in Hell, a short film about a 7-day tennis match.[39] In June 2015, it was confirmed that Harington would star in Martin Koolhoven's upcoming western thriller film Brimstone, replacing Robert Pattinson.[40] In 2016, Harington starred as the main villain in the first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.[41] He is the driver in the current 2016 commercial for the Infiniti Q60 sport coupe car. It is his latest role for product commercials.

Personal life

In 2016, Harington confirmed that he has been in an on-and-off relationship with Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie since 2012. [42][43][44]

Philanthropy

On September 12, Harington, as well as Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Capaldi, Douglas Booth, Neil Gaiman, Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Stanley Tucci, featured in a video from the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem, written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign, of which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities, and education.[45][46]

Filmography

Film

Title Year Role Director Notes Ref(s)
Silent Hill: Revelation 2012 Vincent Smith Michael J. Bassett [27]
Pompeii 2014 Milo Paul W. S. Anderson Lead role [29]
How to Train Your Dragon 2 2014 Eret Dean DeBlois Voice role [5]
Testament of Youth 2014 Roland Leighton James Kent [34]
Seventh Son 2014 Billy Bradley Sergei Bodrov [33]
Spooks: The Greater Good 2015 Will Holloway Bharat Nalluri [47]
Brimstone 2016 Samuel Martin Koolhoven [40]
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan 2017 John F. Donovan Xavier Dolan Post-production † [48]
Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Title Year Role Network Notes Ref.
Game of Thrones 2011–present Jon Snow HBO Main role [49]
7 Days in Hell 2015 Charles Poole HBO Television film [39]

Video games

Title Year Voice role Ref.
Game of Thrones 2015 Jon Snow [50]
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare 2016 Salen Kotch [51]

Theatre

Title Year Role Notes Ref(s)
War Horse 2008–2009 Albert Narracott Olivier Theatre and New London Theatre [52][53]
Posh 2010 Ed Montgomery Royal Court Theatre [2][54]
The Vote 2015 Colin Henderson Donmar Warehouse [54]
Doctor Faustus 2016 Faustus Duke of York's Theatre [55]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2011 Scream Award Best Ensemble (shared with the cast) Game of Thrones Nominated [56]
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) Nominated [57]
IGN Award Best TV Hero Nominated [58]
Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor on Television Nominated [59]
2012 Golden Nymph Award Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [60]
2013 Young Hollywood Awards Actor of the Year Won [61]
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) Game of Thrones Nominated [62]
2014 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) Nominated [63]
2015 Empire Award Empire Hero Award (shared with the cast) Won [64]
Online Film & Television Association Award Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [65]
Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor on Television Nominated [66]
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) Nominated [67]
2016 Gold Derby TV Awards Best Drama Supporting Actor Won [68]
Online Film & Television Association Award Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [69]
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [4]
2017 Critics' Choice Television Award Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Pending [70]

References

  1. ^ a b "Kit Harrington". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e "Kit Harington". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
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  4. ^ a b "Emmys 2016: The Full List of Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Harmanian, Harout (20 June 2012). "'How to Train Your Dragon 2' Gets Kit Harington". MovieWeb. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  6. ^ Sophie Heawood (1 May 2014). "Meet Kit Harington: Game of Thrones hunk and Hollywood's hottest new player". London Evening Standard.
  7. ^ Ed Cumming (3 May 2015). "Kit Harington: 'The acting never feels like work'". The Observer.
  8. ^ Cindy Pearlman (20 March 2014). "Jon Snow knows the right moves – sometimes". Chicago Sun-Times.
  9. ^ Lenny Ann Low (22 March 2014). "Game of Throne's Kit Harington: Man for all seasons". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. ^ Emma Brown. "The HBO Heartthrob: Kit Harington". Interview Magazine.
  11. ^ "Person Page 43217: Christopher Harington". thepeerage.com. 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Nicholas John Harington". Geneall.net. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Lavender Cecilia Denny". Geneall.net. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  14. ^ Siobhan Synnot (11 January 2015). "Kit Harington discusses release of his new film". The Scotsman.
  15. ^ a b Alex Bilmes (6 May 2015). "Mr Kit Harington". Mr Porter.
  16. ^ "Nerdist Podcast Episode 482: Kit Harington". Nerdist. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  17. ^ a b James Connell (7 April 2014). "Game of Thrones star says Worcester will always be home". Worcester News.
  18. ^ Nojan Aminosharei (1 April 2013). "Q&A: Kit Harington". Details.
  19. ^ Ruben V. Nepales (7 February 2014). "'Thrones' star bulked up, then slimmed down for film role". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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  21. ^ Tara Abell (30 March 2012). "Game of Thrones Star Kit Harington Loves Iceland, Fears Flying". The Daily Traveller.
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  26. ^ Saturn award nominations2012
  27. ^ a b McNary, Dave (7 March 2011). "Clemens, Harington join 'Silent Hill'". Variety. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  28. ^ "'Game of Thrones' Kit Harington (Jon Snow): My big break". OnTheRedCarpet.com. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  29. ^ a b DeMara, Bruce (19 February 2013). "Paul W.S. Anderson to shoot Pompeii in Toronto". The Star. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
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  33. ^ a b "Seventh Son". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  34. ^ a b Kit, Borys (4 February 2014). "'Game of Thrones' Star Kit Harington to Headline 'Testament of Youth'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  35. ^ BAZ BAMIGBOYE. "BAZ BAMIGBOYE: A hundred years on, Brittain's got talent". Retrieved 10 July 2014.
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  38. ^ "'Game of Thrones' Star Joins Jessica Chastain in Xavier Dolan Celebrity Satire". Deadline.com. 4 December 2014.
  39. ^ a b "7 Days in Hell: HBO's tennis mockumentary is a grand slam". The Guardian. 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  40. ^ a b "BrimstoneMovie". Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  41. ^ http://time.com/4380582/kit-harington-call-of-duty-infinite-warfare-villain/]
  42. ^ "'Game of Thrones' Co-Stars Kit Harington and Rose Leslie Make Red Carpet Debut as a Couple". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
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  44. ^ "Game of Thrones' Kit Harington and Rose Leslie Share Serious PDA During L.A. Shopping Trip". People. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  45. ^ "2016 Stories - #WithRefugees". Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  46. ^ "What They Took With Them - #WithRefugees". 7 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  47. ^ Kemp, Stuart (7 November 2013). "AFM: Kit Harington, Jennifer Ehle Sign on for 'Spooks'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  48. ^ Yamato, Jen (4 December 2014). "'Game Of Thrones' Star Joins Jessica Chastain In Xavier Dolan Celebrity Satire". Deadline.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
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  50. ^ Futter, Mike (20 November 2014). "[Exclusive] Meet The Exiled Son Of Game Of Thrones' House Forrester". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  51. ^ Matulef, Jeffery (10 June 2016). "Jon Snow actor Kit Harington will play Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare's villain". Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  52. ^ Staff writer (2 July 2009). "Theatre Interview with Kit Harington – The 22-Year-Old Stars in War Horse at the New London Theatre". The London Paper. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
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  61. ^ Carbone, Gina (1 August 2013). "2013 Young Hollywood Awards: Check Out Early Winners". Wetpaint. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  62. ^ "SAG Awards Nominations: '12 Years A Slave' And 'Breaking Bad' Lead Way". Deadline.com. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  63. ^ Hipes, Patrick (10 December 2014). "SAG Awards Nominations: 'Birdman' & 'Boyhood' Lead Film Side, HBO & 'Modern Family' Rule TV – Full List". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  64. ^ "Empire Hero Award". Empire. 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  65. ^ "Television Branch: 2014–15". Online Film & Television Association Award. 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  66. ^ Bryant, Jacob (24 February 2016). "Star Wars, Mad Max, Walking Dead Lead Saturn Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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  68. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (7 September 2016). "Gold Derby TV Awards 2016: 'People v. O.J. Simpson' leads winners, 'Game of Thrones' & 'Veep' also prevail". Gold Derby. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  69. ^ "20th Annual TV Awards (2015-16)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  70. ^ "Critics' Choice TV Awards: HBO Leads With 22 Nominations". 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.

Further reading

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