Kit Harington reveals uncomfortable detail while filming with Sophie Turner
Kit Harington has opened up about the awkward experience of filming intimate scenes with Sophie Turner, admitting the whole thing felt “gross” because of their long history together on Game of Thrones.
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Kit Harington who is now 39, and Sophie Turner who is now 30, spent nearly a decade working side by side on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, which ran from 2011 to 2019. Turner was just 14 when she joined the show as Sansa Stark, while Harington was in his early 20s playing Jon Snow. For most of the series, their characters believed they were siblings, before later discovering they were actually cousins.
Their latest project marks a major shift, with the pair playing lovers in The Dreadful, a horror film directed by Natasha Kermani. Set in 15th-century England, the movie follows a woman living in isolation whose life is turned upside down when someone from her past unexpectedly returns.
Speaking with fellow Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage for Variety’s Actors on Actors, Harington admitted he was surprised by how romantic the script was.
“She sent me the script and I said, ‘Sophie, there’s a lot of us getting it on,’” he recalled, adding that Turner initially hadn’t realized just how many intimate scenes were involved and had simply thought he would be right for the role.
Harington said the transition felt strange because he has known Turner since she was a child and sees her more like a younger sister.
“It was gross, but it was fine,” he said of filming the scenes.
Turner previously shared an equally uncomfortable reaction during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. She said she was reading through the script when she suddenly realized how many romantic moments her character shared with Harington.
“I’m like, ‘Kiss, kiss, sex, kiss, sex’—and then I’m like, ‘Oh shoot, that’s my brother,’” she joked.
Despite initially being horrified, Turner said both actors agreed the script was too good to pass up.
“So then we put it out our minds and then we get on set and it’s the first kissing scene and we are both retching,” she said. “Like, really, it is vile—it was the worst… another really bad moment in my career.”
Although the scenes proved challenging, Harington had nothing but praise for his longtime co-star, calling Turner a “phenomenal” actress.
Dinklage, who played Tyrion Lannister throughout the series, agreed and even went a step further.
“I thought she was the greatest actress on Game of Thrones,” he said, praising Turner for always being prepared and describing her as incredibly enjoyable to act alongside.
Elsewhere in the interview, Harington joked that he has been appearing in an unusual number of nude scenes recently and is beginning to wonder whether it’s time to slow down.
“I’m weirdly doing a lot of nudity at the moment, and sex scenes,” he admitted. “The more I do it, the more I think, ‘I think I should stop.’”
The actor, who shares two children with wife and fellow Game of Thrones alum Rose Leslie, said he has started thinking about how his kids might react one day.
“I’ve got to start thinking about my kids, like, ‘Why is Daddy always naked on-screen?’” he joked.
Dinklage, however, wasn’t too concerned, humorously pointing out that young children spend plenty of time naked themselves.
“It’s okay,” he quipped. “That’ll be a conversation for the therapist one day.”
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