Kit Harington Opens Up About Hating Himself Before Getting Sober

Prior to entering rehab for stress and alcohol use in 2019, Kit Harington admitted he hated the person who looked back at him in the mirror.

In an interview with Sam Parker for GQ Hype, Harington recalls a time before his sobriety when he would "stare in the mirror and call myself a cunt."

"I'd hate myself," the 37-year-old actor said. "I would literally despise myself and not be proud of anything I'd done. I couldn't be proud. So the fact that I am proud of getting sober is in and of itself a mark of being an entirely different person."

"And now, every set I step onto, whatever work I do, I'm proud of, because I know I put everything into it," Harington continued. "Whereas before I had this huge monkey on my back that was just, like, weighing me down. So yeah, the whole nature of being proud of myself is a relatively new prospect for me."

Harington previously confessed in a 2021 interview with The Times that he experienced some "pretty traumatic" events during and after his time on Game of Thrones, many of which were fueled by alcohol. His depression reached a point where he contemplated suicide.

"I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things,” he said. “Maybe [speaking about this 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."

Harington is aware that he could relapse any day, but believes being outspoken about his past struggles can only help him out in the long run.

"Look, I can't tell what the future brings,” he said. “I might have one massive, messy, chaotic relapse. And I hope that doesn't happen. But I think I protect myself by talking about it."