The former 'Game of Thrones' actor opens up about his struggle with addiction, admitting he kept the issues 'very, very quiet' and it almost cost his marriage.

• Aug 10, 2021

AceShowbiz - Kit Harington's addiction issues "came as quite a surprise" to his loved ones.

The actor checked into rehab in 2018 to deal with his problems and mental health struggles and, in an interview with Britain's The Sunday Times magazine, Kit admitted his struggles put his marriage to former "Game of Thrones" co-star Rose Leslie under strain.

Asked if his relationship was tested, he said, "Yes. You can imagine the stresses that it causes to those around you. I will say about my addictions that I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked up with them. So they came as quite a surprise to the people around me. Which is quite often the case, I guess."

Kit, who has a six-month-old son with Rose, also told the publication he's decided to open up about his struggles in a bid to help other people, but insisted that he's not "special" in any way.

"(I hope this can) help someone, somewhere," he mused. "But I definitely don't want to be seen as a martyr or special."

"I've been through something, it's my stuff. If it helps someone, that's good."

When things hit rock bottom, Kit even considered taking his own life, and went through a "horrible" time when he felt like a "horrible person." However, the star thinks sobriety helped him accept he was able to change.

"I went through some pretty horrible stuff," he continued. "Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol."

"You get to a place where you feel like you are a bad person, you feel like you are a shameful person. And you feel that there's no way out, that's just who you are. And getting sober is the process of going, 'No, I can change.' "

'One of my favourite things I learnt recently is that the expression 'a leopard doesn't change its spots' is completely false: that a leopard actually does change its spots."

"I just think that's the most beautiful thing. It really helped. That was something I kind of clung to; the idea that I could make this huge fundamental change in who I was and how I went about my life."

Asked if he ever felt suicidal when he reached rock bottom, he said, "I will give you an answer to that question: the answer is yes. Yes of course. I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things."