When Kit Harington, at just 21 years old, was chosen to play Jon Snow in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” he had just completed his first play and graduated from drama school.

The young actor’s career had a “stratospheric lift” as a result of the immensely successful show, but he also admitted that becoming so well-known was somewhat of a “shock to the system.”
This month, the 35-year-old gave a speech at the first official “Game of Thrones” fan conference, where he gave appreciation to his friends for keeping him grounded.

During a Q&A interview for “The Official Game of Thrones Podcast,” he stated, “I kept a really good set of pals around me who took the piss out of me all the time.” That is very significant. They prevented my head from expanding. My feet were not allowed to leave the earth. They kept me down there for good. And they continue to.
Harington claimed that he had ceased reading online reviews of him and had instead learnt to avoid them. He reassured himself that “Game of Thrones” was “only a TV show” in order to defend himself and his self-assurance.

You may believe that you are the biggest thing since sliced bread and the centre of the earth, but this is simply a TV show, he remarked. Let’s avoid growing too big for this situation.
Despite the triumph, Harington wasn’t sure what to do after playing Jon Snow.

“As an actor, you search for that thing your entire career. You search for that one thing you’re known for or that simply takes off, he added. And if you develop it in your 20s, you’re left wondering, “Oh, sh*t, what do I do now?”

Harington claimed that he didn’t begin to accept Jon Snow’s place in his life until a recent conversation with “Thrones” co-creator Dan Weiss.

Then, he continued, “you say, ‘Well, I don’t have to look for the thing anymore. “I’m free to go and do whatever I want. I have the freedom to travel and do bizarre things. I believe there is a genuine release in that.

Harington’s post-“Game of Thrones” career has seen him make appearances in the Amazon “Modern Love” series, a Marvel film, and a biopic about author Mary Shelley, in which he will shortly play Frankenstein.
However, there is still hope that Jon Snow may come back into his life. Early this year, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that the actor was in discussions to reprise Longclaw in a follow-up HBO series.

He remarked during the Q&A session, “I think where we left him at the end of the show… we wanted some type of little smile that things are okay. He is not fine.