Kit Harington has been through the mill as Jon Snow on Game of Thrones and now it’s been revealed that filming Battle of the Bastards was so gruelling he was given a safe word.
HBO have released an Inside Game of Thrones video which dives deep into some of the most iconic bloodbaths of the past seven seasons, including the epic fight from season six and the traumatising Red Wedding.
Camera operator Sean Savage has been right at the centre of the action since 2010, capturing what is undoubtedly the most ambitious series in television history. In fact, Game of Thrones ‘challenged us to our limit,’ he admitted.
And during the three minute feature, Sean remembered his favourite scenes from the fantasy epic and it turns out the Battle of The Bastards was genuinely as brutal as it looks – especially for Kit.
‘When Jon Snow is forced to the ground and trampled and this seemingly immortal hero of ours looks like he’s close to the end, it was something Miguel Sapocknik, the director, added into the show,’ explained Sean. ‘It wasn’t entirely scripted like that.
‘Kit went to ground, these stunt guys piled in and we had to have a safe word where we could call it off at any point.’
He continued: ‘We had to see that the light closed up on Kit’s face and at that point I just urged Kit to get off the ground to stand up again. I think you can see that it’s a true struggle.’
Well, you can’t knock Kit for giving us his everything throughout Game of Thrones – even if he thinks Jon Snow is the ‘unfunniest’ character on TV ever.
The 32-year-old recently revealed he had to undergo therapy during the peak fascination surrounding the King of the North, after the warrior died during the season five finale in 2015.
Fans couldn’t believe it – and they were right as Kit was later spotted filming season six, but still the actor had to appear on chat show after chat show telling a white lie to fans, which, understandably, took it out of him.
In turn, it’s no wonder he’s not too gutted to wave goodbye to Game of Thrones, even if the rest of the world are borderline inconsolable.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO and Sky Atlantic on April 14, but you can catch up on seasons one to seven on NOW TV.
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