Game of Thrones star Kit Harington was famously resurrected as Jon Snow in the HBO series, but fans probably have no idea how close he once came to death in real life.
Long before he took control of the Night's Watch or became King of the North, he grew up as the son of a playwright and a businessman in Acton, but his life got off to a fairly rough start.
In a new Sunday Times profile for his return to the stage in True West, Kit recalled that he nearly drowned at just 4 years old when he became trapped at the deep end of a swimming pool.
"Once, I nearly drowned in a swimming pool," he said. "When I was 4. I was seconds away from death, apparently."
It was one incident that helped fuel him in his new role in the family-centric stage drama, in which he stars opposite Johnny Flynn. His real-life rivalry with his brother also served as another inspiration.
"My older brother will find this play hilarious, because he used to kick the shit out of me," he remembered. "We're very, very close, but we fought when we were younger.
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"There's something in this play that appeals to that side of me and my brother's relationship, way back when. We were quite competitive. I won't tell you what my brother used to do to me, because it was horrible… Actually, my brother attributes my whole career to the fact that I learnt to play at crying early on, being a little shit.
"He didn't actually have to beat the crap out of me to get into trouble."
Harington and Flynn's True West opens at the Vaudeville Theatre in London from November 23. Book tickets now by clicking here.
He'll be back on telly when Game of Thrones season 8 premieres in 2019. The show airs on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK. Season 7 is now available to buy on DVD, Blu-ray or digital download.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
