Five Fast Facts About Game of Thrones Star Kit Harington

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is certainly best known for playing Jon Snow for eight seasons now, but there’s still a lot people don’t know about him. From his real first name to his deepest and darkest fear, here are five fast facts about the actor.

1. What’s In A Name?
Surprise — Kit is not his birth name. In fact, Kit’s not even in his name at all! His birth name is actually Christopher Catesby Harington! He didn’t even know real name was Christopher until he was a preteen because his family just always called him Kit.

2. Stage actor
Harington is obviously a very talented television actor, but he got his start on the stage! He played the lead in the play War Horse when he was still a student in drama school.

3. Black eye
While most actors prepare for an audition by reading their lines or getting a good night’s rest, Harington decided to get himself a black eye. That’s right, the night before his GOT audition, he got in a bit of a scuffle with a man outside of a McDonald’s. Hey, at least he got the part!

4. Shorter Than Expected
Nobody thinks Harington is a giant by any means, but it turns out he’s a little shorter in person. In fact, he’s only 5’8, which has surprised fans a time or two. Not only that, NBC’s Saturday Night Live enjoyed poking fun of him for it when he hosted the New York-based sketch show.

5. Claustrophobia
Harington is seriously claustrophobic, which made it extra difficult for him to film the episode in Season 6 called “Battle of the Bastards.” In that scene, Harington AKA Jon Snow is surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people, which couldn’t have been easy. But just like Jon Snow himself, Harington survived the whole ordeal.