Christopher Catesby "Kit" Harington (born 26 December 1986) is an English actor who rose to fame playing the role of Jon Snow, one of the main characters in the series Game of Thrones. He starred as Albert Narracott in the original West End production of War Horse. Harington also played the lead role of Milo in the 2014 film Pompeii and 'Eret' in How to Train Your Dragon 2.
He also has a very interesting ancestry: first, there seems to be a link between him and John Harington
, Elizabethan courtier and the inventor of the flushing toilet. Furthermore, he has familial ties to opposing sides of the Gunpowder Plot: he is a matrilineal descendant of the ring-leader Robert Catesby (whom he would portray in Gunpowder), and a patrilineal descendant of the Harington barons—one of whom would've been blown up had they succeeded.
Like his wife Rose Leslie, he is also descended from Charles II. This means he is also technically a relative of James the First, the target. She gave birth to their son in February of 2021.
Selected roles
- War Horse (2008 – 2009) as Albert Naracott
- Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) as Jon Snow
- Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012) as Vincent Cooper
- Pompeii (2014) as Milo
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) as Eret
- Testament of Youth (2014) as Roland Leighton
- Seventh Son (2015) as Billy Bradley
- 7 Days in Hell (2015) as Charles Poole
- Doctor Faustus (2016) as Faustus
- Brimstone (2016) as Samuel
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) as Salen Kotch
- Gunpowder (2017) as Robert Catesby
- Modern Love (2021) as Michael
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (2021 — present ) as Dane Whitman / Black Knight
- Eternals (2021)
- Extrapolations (2023)
Tropes associated with Kit Harington
- Casting Gag: He played his own ancestor in Gunpowder. He is also from a Northern aristocratic family, as Jon Snow is.
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- He had to grow his hair and dye it black to play Jon Snow.
- Underwent Training from Hell for his gladiator role in Pompeii.
- Mr. Fanservice: His characters tend to be fan favorites among the female viewership. However, he dislikes doing fanservice roles since it means people will hire him for his looks and not for his acting skills.
- Period Piece: Several of the works he appeared in, namely; War Horse and Testament of Youth (World War I), Game of Thrones (Medieval European Fantasy), Pompeii (Ancient Rome), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dark Age Europe), Seventh Son (Medieval European Fantasy), Doctor Faustus (The Renaissance), Brimstone (The Wild West) and Gunpowder (The Cavalier Years), making him a Distaff Counterpart of sorts to Keira Knightley. Interestingly, in the one work Kit appears in that is set in a Bad Future, he is Playing Against Type as the Big Bad.
- Perpetual Frowner: Let's face it, Kit (and especially Jon Snow) always look very upset at something. Kit says it's just how his face 'rests' when he's not smiling.
- Pretty Boy: Undeniably.
- Romance on the Set: He and his Game of Thrones Love Interest Rose Leslie were on and off a few times in real life. In September 2017, the pair announced their engagement. They married on June 23, 2018.
- Separated-at-Birth Casting: A lot of celebrity news sites have noted how he and his onscreen kinsman Richard Madden have strong physical resemblance to each other, to the point that a common criticism of the first few episodes is that it's hard to tell which is which when they're in the same scene.
- Star-Making Role: As Jon Snow.
- Those Two Actors: Has co-starred with Carice Van Houten in Game of Thrones, Testament of Youth, and Brimstone.
- Typecasting: Kit is almost always cast as either stoic badasses or pretty boy roles.
- Walking Spoiler: He was one between Seasons 5 and 6 of Game Of Thrones; having famously complained about his contractual long hair, the fact that he didn't cut it after Jon Snow's supposed death in season 5 made many people realize he was probably coming back.
