“Game of Thrones” cast members reflect on the show and what it means to say goodbye. (21 May)
AP, AP
Weeks after “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington checked himself into a wellness retreat, the show’s costume designer says she saw how much he was emotionally affected by the end of the series that made him a worldwide star and took up a third of his life.
“They were children when they started,” Michelle Clapton, who outfitted Harington and his Stark siblings in their medieval garb for a decade, told Us Weekly at the Designing Women Awards Tuesday. “And it became such an enormous thing, and I think when you stop, it’s sort of a huge security blanket is taken away.
“I mean, they all became friends with each other, and then suddenly, there’s nothing to go back to,” the Emmy-winning costume designer added. “So I would imagine that had something to do with it. He lost his way a bit.”
Clapton described Harington, 32, as a “sensitive soul.”
She recalled, “He was very upset in that final read through because I think it felt like home for (the cast), and they realized, ‘This is it.’ As much as he’s talented and will go on to many other things, I think it’s just after eight or nine years, it’s a big adjustment. I’m sure he’ll be OK, though.”
Fans who viewed HBO’s two-hour, behind-the-scenes documentary “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch” saw for themselves just how hard the final table read hit Harington, who waited to read the last script until he was with his cast mates. So he was utterly unprepared for what his character, Jon Snow, does at the beginning of the series finale.
After reading the scene, Harington gasped, buried his head (and famous locks) in his hands, then put his hand over his mouth in disbelief. In another shot, he tries to hold back tears as his face turns red.
Harington’s representative, Marianna Shafran, confirmed to USA TODAY in May that the British actor was taking time away from the spotlight to work on “some personal issues.”
In an emailed statement, Shafran explained, “Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat.”
Contributing: Cydney Henderson
‘Game of Thrones’: 5 things we learned from ‘The Last Watch’ behind-the-scenes documentary
Emilia Clarke: I ‘deeply regret’ one thing from the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2019/06/13/kit-harington-lost-his-way-after-game-thrones-costume-designer-says/1442593001/
