Kit Harington: Get ready for a more manipulative Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones
Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington is excited about prospective future roles
Winter has finally come - and Jon Snow has arrived.
Game Of Thrones (GOT), the most popular show on television and the most illegally downloaded one in the world, is back on air, with the seventh season premiering on HBO (StarHub Ch 601) on Monday at 9am with an encore telecast at 9pm.
We are at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association office in West Hollywood with leading man Kit Harington, and even the beard and spectacles cannot take away from the good looks that made this English actor a heart-throb.
When his character Jon Snow died two seasons ago, it was reported that even then president Barack Obama demanded to know if he was really dead, and the Internet was ablaze with possible Harington sightings on the set, keeping alive the possibility that he would be resurrected.
Snow was indeed kept breathing but has not gone through a huge transition in his character arc - until now.
Harington, 30, said: "At the end of last season, you saw him achieve some kind of legitimacy, becoming King in the North and greater than his father (Ned Stark), who was Warden of the North...
"Jon is probably one of the more stable characters all the way through. You return to him each year and he doesn't change a great deal, and I have always quite liked that about him.
"But this year, I think he becomes a politician... He starts manipulating people in a Jon Snow way - in a kind way, but he has a job to do."
As most of Harington's 20s was spent on this job, you wonder how he has changed.
Calling it a "hugely strange and abnormal journey", especially for someone "thrust into this position of fame because of this TV show they are in", he "freaked out" when he was 28.
He said: "Men at around 28, 29 suddenly go into a transition into being an adult... I feel like an adult man now. And I think it is a really interesting age to be going into the parts that will be coming up."
When GOT ends after Season 8, Harington wants to continue his career as an actor.
DISCOMFORT
He said: "I have days when I go home and I think I don't want to do this any more, and when Thrones is done, I am done, I want to quit.
"And then I don't know what else I would do. I love acting, and I can only hope and try to get better at it.
"The acting has caused a lot of discomfort at times. I am bad at watching myself, and I remember the first time (I did that), I nearly cried, because I thought I was so much better than I was on screen.
"There has been a struggle since (then). But I love it, and I am fortunate to be able to do it and it pays me well, so I think I would be mad to throw it away."
There is one souvenir from the set that Harington wants to keep.
"I said at the end of Season 1, I want my sword. When this finishes, please let me have that sword. And they said, 'Yeah, yeah, of course.'
"And as the seasons have gone on and the show has got more and more popular, the value of that sword has just gone up and up and up," Harington said with a laugh.
"That sword is worth a few hundred thousand pounds, and I don't think I am getting it. But I am still hinting heavily, and this time they kind of go, 'We will see.' So I might get a replica."
One thing he does not want is his "uncomfortable" King in the North costume - "essentially a heavy leather duvet" - and accompanying swords, which add up to about 20kg.
Said Harington: "You are wearing that all day and it all sits on your shoulders. And I complained about it all year, and they did nothing. And we shot in Spain this year and it was warm."
The best thing to come out of GOT, however, was meeting his girlfriend, Scottish actress Rose Leslie, who played Snow's late wildling lover Ygritte.
The couple have been dating since 2012 and are now living together.
Harington said: "That is the greatest gift it has given me. My favourite memories are from Iceland when we first met on set, Season 2 and 3. It really is a special kind of place for me for that reason."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now