Kit Harington Shares 8 Behind-the-Scenes Photos from 'Game of Thrones' Through the Years
Harington, Richard Madden, and Alfie Allen in Belfast, 2009
"Alfie, Richard, and I went to the Wheel of Belfast. It was that time when every city had to have a huge Ferris wheel. We were almost like kids ourselves, going on this big wheel and obviously having this souvenir photo taken. It’s just remarkable looking at it now and thinking we had no idea what was going to happen with the show. We were just young actors happy to be working—literally a world-at-your-feet sort of thing but no expectations from it."
Kristofer Hivju taking a break during the filming of the 'Ice Lake' sequence in Belfast, 2017
"Kristofer has one of the most amazing faces ever. I think he looks like an Arctic explorer in this. He’s just wonderfully eccentric and became a very, very good friend."
John Bradley in a prank costume in Belfast, 2014
"So the story behind this one is that it was season 5, when John Bradley, as Samwell Tarly, leaves the Wall and goes off to the Citadel, and me and Hannah Murray, who plays Gilly [Samwell’s love interest], decided to pull a prank on John, because obviously, he’d be getting a new costume. And so we said to the costume people, “Can you just mock up the most ridiculous outfit you can possibly come up with that could still be feasible? Like it can’t be too wild, because you won’t believe it—but just about feasible.” And they came up with this, which was just so perfect."
Harington wearing Daenerys's wig
"This is just me fucking around. I just got bored one day and put it on. Quite often Dany’s wigs were lying around. If that picture says anything, it’s about how much of your time is spent in hair and makeup. "
Emilia Clarke in Spain, 2016
"This was taken in Spain, and I thought Emilia looked like, as the old saying goes, a million bucks. To me, in this photo, she screams fifties, sixties, Old Hollywood chic. And that’s why I took this snap, ’cause she sort of has a timeless quality to her."
Harington in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, 2015
"I took this selfie during the Battle of the Bastards [season 6’s biggest episode]. Just to give you an idea, we had six stages of dirt and blood, and I’m on about stage three at that point. And it was pretty uncomfortable. All of that stuff on my face is sticky blood, which is sugar based and attracts wasps and flies. I think I took that selfie just to go, “What the fuck am I in? I’m halfway through this and this is how messy I am.”
Vladimir Furdik napping in makeup as The Night King, Belfast, 2018
"This is from this season. I think he’s asleep there. That was during these long nights filming battles. There was just something so weird about chilling in the green room—a tent, basically—with the Night King, who’s making jokes, and the White Walkers around him, who are cracking up. To you it’s normal, but to anyone else walking into that room, it would be bizarre. It’s these bits I’ll miss most—the moments of 'What the fuck is my job?'"
The Surviving Game of Thrones cast (or much of it) in Belfast, 2018
We took this this season. I can’t remember what we were there for, whether it was a photo shoot or a costume thing, but it struck all of us that it was so rare that this many people were in one place at one time. So we were like, “Right. We need a family photo.” This is obviously just a snippet of people who were on Thrones. I’d love to get a massive group of everyone who was on Thrones in one big photo. This is just what we ended up with, kind of the core group of us, minus for some reason Lena [Headey, who plays Cersei Lannister]. I don’t know why she’s not there. But it’s a really happy photo. I remember diving into the middle of it, trying to be center. The photo cuts a bit through all the shiny little faces we have to pull on press tours, and the people we are when we’re all dolled up for a premiere or a talk show or what have you. When we get on set together, a group like this, we’re fucking goofy and we play around. And I think you can tell from this photo how much everyone loves each other."
This story originally appeared on Esquire.com. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
