Kit Harington is very well known for portraying the Game of Thrones character Jon Snow, one of the most recognizable heroes in pop culture. The actor is now eager to take on playing much more dastardly characters, feeling that the more “f***ed up” might be, the better.
In his new film, Blood for Dust, Harington plays a villain named Ricky, and the actor spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how he rarely gets the opportunity to “play the Rickys of this world, the antagonistic dirtbag types.” The Eternals actor, who also plays Black Knight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, addressed how he’s now gravitating toward more villainous roles, admitting that it’s much more difficult to effectively play the hero.
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“That is seemingly what I’ve been hunting a bit,” Harington said of taking on darker roles. “If I look at the roles I’ve taken since playing an out-and-out hero in Game of Thrones, I have to admit there seems to be some sort of pushback about playing a hero. I’m not so interested in heroic roles, and if I am, they have to be pretty anti-hero-ish.”
He added, “My heart goes out to people playing heroes. They’re f***ing hard to play and to make interesting. It is more fascinating as an actor, I think, to empathize with someone deeply faulted and wrong, to try and find your way into why they are doing these things. [Playing] a guy who is doing all the right things and is driven by being good, it’s harder to do that. And I think people who do it successfully, who play classically heroic roles, are very talented actors. But at the moment, I just find it more interesting looking for the f***ed-up people.”
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Kit Harington Can Be Seen as a Villain in His New Film
Blood for Dust stars Kit Harington alongside Scoot McNairy, Josh Lucas, Nora Zehetner, Ethan Suplee, and Stephen Dorff. Rod Blackhurst directed while David Ebeltoft wrote the script.
In the film, “Reckless Ricky (Harington) makes serious money dealing illegal weapons throughout the tri-state area and loves to flaunt it. Traveling salesman Cliff (McNairy), covers the same territory Ricky runs guns through. Desperate to find some financial relief for his struggling family, Cliff agrees to partner with Ricky, to commit cross-state drug and gun deliveries for a mid-level American cartel boss John (Lucas). When a simple exchange turns into a bloodbath after Ricky kills everyone in a territory grab, the pair find themselves in a pressure cooker situation where unlikely drug dealer Cliff must fight as hard as he can to stay alive.”
Given his interest in pursuing antagonistic roles, perhaps it’s all for the best for Harington that the Jon Snow spinoff series is no longer happening. Meanwhile, Blood for Dust is now available on digital and in select theaters.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Game Of Thrones
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for a millennia.
- Release Date
- April 17, 2011
- Cast
- Peter Dinklage , Emilia Clarke , Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , Sophie Turner , Maisie Williams , Kit Harington , Lena Headey , Sean Bean
- Seasons
- 8
- Creator
- David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
- Production Company
- Home Box Office (HBO), Television 360Grok! Studio
- Number of Episodes
- 73
- Network
- HBO Max