Kit Harington has come a long way as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. He is one of the popular and fan favourite characters from the fantasy drama series. But how much do you know about Kit?
Here are a few lesser-known facts about Kit Harington.
What's in a name?
Kit Harington's real name is Christopher Catesby Harington and he wasn't aware of this until he was 11 years old. The Game of Thrones star wasn't pleased when he found out about his real name.
"It's my name. It's short for Christopher. I didn't know my name was Christopher until I was 11. I went to school, you do these exams and I put down Kit Harington and the teacher said, 'That's not your name,' and I said, 'Yeah I think I'd know my own name!' They were like, 'No no your name is Christopher.' I was a bit pissed off with my mum. You didn't tell me my name till I was 11," he told CNN.
Kit's middle name Catesby is her mother's name. His mother named him after British playwright Christopher Marlowe and interestingly, he was also known as Kit.
Kit went for the GoT audition with a black eye
After the producers asked him to come for an audition, he went with a black eye. Kit had a fight in McDonald's a day before he went for the audition, but he thought that the black eye made him look tougher.
"I had a black eye as I'd been in a scrap. But I think it might have helped. You know, 'Who's the kid with the black eye?' I was completely new to them, but I looked the part – still had the black eye," he told Mail Online.
Kit wore a wig for the pilot episode of GoT
Kit had to wear a wig for the pilot episode of the fantasy drama because he had short hair. "I had a horrible wig on. The pilot really didn't work. No one's ever seen it, it's in some back room somewhere, and I'd like it to stay there!" he told BBC Breakfast.
When he faced his worst fear
During the shooting of the Battle of the Bastards episode in Season 6, he faced his worst fear. Kit is claustrophobic and is afraid of the crowd.
"I've got a few fears, spiders being one of them, but the worst is my claustrophobia – I'm mortally afraid of crowds. I panic. It was one of the most terrifying things and most uncomfortable – 15 bearded Irishmen crushing you," he told the Belfast Telegraph.
"There was a moment where he could've just lay down and let go of the hell he's in, and sleep, like drowning, but it cuts to the heart of Jon, that he fights his way up to the top"
His relative invented the flush toilet for Queen Elizabeth
He is related to John Harington, who invented the flush toilet for Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century.
"That's 100 percent true. It's called 'the John Harington.' I'm glad it's not called "the Harington." [My family] also wrote the queen a lot of bad poetry. I've inherited the bad poetry genes, but not the inventor genes," he told Elle in an interview.
When he revealed the storyline to avoid a speeding ticket
The Game of Thrones fans were curious to know whether Jon Snow died in the Season 5 finale, but it was one lucky policeman who got to know about the storyline.
"I was driving back from my parents' house and I was driving too fast, actually I was being a bit naughty. I was going over the speed limit. And I feel the sirens go off behind me. And this policeman comes up and pulls me over. He said, 'Look there is two ways we can do this. You can either follow me back to the police station now and I book you in, or you tell me whether you live in the next series of Game of Thrones'."
"So I looked at him and I went, 'I'm alive next season.' And he goes, 'On your way, Lord Commander'," he told on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
He was momentarily paralysed
While talking to Rolling Stone, he said that he was temporarily paralysed on the Pompeii set in Toronto
"I was in my trailer, and I felt absolutely fine, but they called me to set, I got up, and my legs just went from underneath me, and I fucking couldn't stand. Every time I got up, the same thing happened. I just stayed in bed for 48 hours and then I was at work again. But it's weird when that happens," he said.
