If Kit Harington can stomach plunging a sword through a man’s head, as seen last season in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” others should be able to, too.
“I don’t see a problem with it, because you mostly always feel the consequences of that person dying,” Harington told the Radio Times in an interview. “In ‘Thrones,’ it’s war, and awful, awful things happen, as we see on the news daily. And if we’ve got an appetite for watching these things on the news, then you can’t shy away from it on cable drama.”
The actor, who portrays the show’s famously born-out-of-wedlock Jon Snow, sees nothing wrong with the violent scenes depicted in the fantasy genre. “Thrones” isn’t shy about cringe-worthy deaths from Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) pouring molten gold on Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) to Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane (Hafthor Julius Bjornsson) squeezing the Oberyn Martell’s (Pedro Pascal) head until it explodes in Season 4.
And the war of the five kings hasn’t eased since starting near the end of Season 1.
“In ‘Thrones,’ as much as they bury the death they see very quickly, there is an impact that those deaths have which I’m constantly playing. People are always dying around me in ‘Thrones,’” Harington said.
“Game of Thrones” isn’t the only show pushing the television norm; NBC’s “Hannibal” was pulled from the Mormon church-owned KSL TV station last spring because of its graphic content.
Harington returns to the series for Season 5, premiering Sunday, April 5. If the wait is too long, fans can see the actor in the World War I drama “Testament of Youth” in theaters Jan. 16.