Kit Harington's Broken Ankle

‘TRUE WEST’ - VAUDEVILLE THEATRE, London

Back on the London stage in Sam Shepard’s classic ‘True West’, Kit Harington talks rowdy audiences, sibling rivalry and the end of ‘Game of Thrones’

Curled up in an old leather rehearsal-studio swivel-chair that he seems to have formed some sort of emotional attachment to (he even tells me how much he loves it), Kit Harington is tired but palpably happier than the last time I interviewed him. Perhaps it’s because he’s enjoying playing, Austin, the neurotic younger brother to Johnny Flynn’s deadbeat elder sibling, Lee, in Sam Shepard’s iconic 1980 drama ‘True West’. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t have to lie about Jon Snow not being in the final season of ‘Game of Thrones’, which is wrapped and airs next summer.

Why did you choose to do ‘True West’?

‘I wanted to do a two-hander where me and another actor shared the stage for the bulk of the time. And what I love about Austin is the opportunity to play somebody incredibly highly strung and neurotic; that’s not a part that’s usually offered to me. Austin has a complete fucking breakdown, and that’s always fun to play.’

How have you got on with Johnny Flynn?

‘Really well! I know it would be more interesting to say I hate him. But that’s the risk; the nature of the role is that Lee is bullying Austin a lot of the time, so if you don’t get on with that other actor it can become very, very difficult. But he’s such a calm, interesting guy. There would be something wrong with you if you didn’t like Johnny Flynn.’