Kit Harington, like most of the Game of Thrones cast, has other projects going during the off-season of the world’s most popular TV series — and for his latest he’s taken the leap to working on both sides of the camera, acting in and serving as producer of Gunpowder, a three-part BBC miniseries about the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 that was intended to blow up London’s Parliament. And in a fortunate turn for a first-time producer, Harington was able to take some lessons learned from Thrones to his new role.
“I’d been watching for however many years now on ‘Thrones,’ watching the role of the producer and how it all worked,” Harington told Time in a recent interview. “And I’ve worked with some of the best, Chris Newman and Bernie Caulfield and Carolyn Strauss and Frank Doelger and David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] on ‘Thrones.’ I think I really wanted to test that and see what it was really like doing it. And I enjoyed it.”
Gunpowder, which will be distributed in the U.S. next week by HBO, tells the story of Robert Catesby, the leader of a group of rebels (which included Guy Fawkes) in London who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne. Harington has the lead role of Catesby, which is a role close to his heart, literally and figuratively — he’s a direct descendant of him on his mother’s side. He said the story of Catesby within his family is “one of those pieces of family curiosity” that he just “[grew] up with,” but that the more he got to know his infamous ancestor, the more eye-opening the story became.
“As I went along trying to depict Catesby and get into his head, the less I sympathized with him,” Harington said. “He’s persecuted — I see why he does what he does. But the more I looked, the more I realized he’s an incredibly selfish person. … Reading up on him and looking at the real historical person, he thought quite a lot of himself. He basically after a while couldn’t see what he was attempting which was to kill innocent people and become as bad as those people who were persecuting him.”
Harington said that he found the role of producer a “quite natural place to be,” and that the experiences of working on Thrones and with its producers taught him some valuable lessons for his own turn behind the camera.
“One thing that I’ve noticed is that if people are enjoying what they’re doing and the cast and the crew and the producers are melding in the right way and everyone is getting on in the right way, the right kind of energy is flowing through a group of people, then the end product can only benefit from it and can only become better for it,” he said. “Everyone kind of feels like a family. And that was something I wanted to try if I was going to produce something; it comes from the producers.”
Harington also said that the reality of filming the final season of Thrones is finally “sinking in, it’s just quite emotional. I don’t know how I’m going to feel sometime next year when I’ve finished.” And true to what’s been hinted at by other cast members, he promised that Season 8 will be “bigger than it’s ever been.”
We know we have to wait quite awhile to see Harington’s suggestion come to fruition, but in the meantime, Gunpowder — which critics have said is his most successful role since Thrones — promises to be an intriguing way to pass some of that time. The series will air on HBO at 10 p.m. on Dec. 18, 19 and 20.
Yeah, well, bigger =/= better.
Morally judging your character is a trait all bad actors share. Congratulations Kit, I’m sure that won’t affect your performance at all.
Looking forward to watching Gunpowder.
In season 8 I think Jon Snow will have a few good scenes with the Night King/Death … maybe even a conversation.
I think Arya Stark/Faceless Man/Death will have some twisted scenes scenes with the Night King/Death and maybe even Queen Daenerys or Aegon Targaryen.
I am trying to think of how D&D could make the story as unpredictable as possible but still come to a dynamic strong ending and so far I got nothing.
Start the Countdown…. 381 days until 2019 🙂
I watched Gunpowder when it aired here in the UK and Kit’s acting is great, particularly one scene with his son. He has a natural charisma on screen, I’m sure he will have many more successful projects after Thrones.
It would have been cool to also include Sophie’s new interview where she mentioned that the season still has its fair share of human drama to accompany the fantastic elements. That assured me that this season wouldn’t be absolute balls to the walls with CGI and battle. Although why would it be when there’s still huge issues to address in Dany and Jon’s relationship, the North’s leadership now that Jon has come back with Dany’s forces, and the overall state of the Iron Throne.
Dyanna,
Thanks for the review! The brief trailers I’ve seen here in the states look good. And good for Kit for taking this opportunity to pop behind the camera.
Kit sure has an interesting family tree!
Having already seen Gunpowder, I’m incredibly interested to see how it does on HBO. I feel that’s a really good place for it to be shown, and I hope the US audience loves it as much as I did.
CGI
It damn well better be Jon Snow.
firstone,
“I am trying to think of how D&D could make the story as unpredictable as possible but still come to a dynamic strong ending and so far I got nothing.”
………………..
Questions:
(1) Based on past interviews of GRRM and the showrunners, the show and books were supposed to wind up at the same destination even if the show took different route(s).
Do you believe they will still converge, and the ending of the show will conform to what GRRM had in mind all along?
(2) Ol’ Hanging Gun Wimsey and his sidekicks Anton Chekhov and William of Occam might suggest that the ingredients for a “dynamic strong ending” must have been embedded somewhere in the 67 episodes already aired, and the likeliest conclusion should be the one that requires the least number of assumptions. Therefore, would you agree that a dynamic, “unpredictable” ending should be one that has the audience slapping their foreheads and thinking “I should have seen that coming; the trail of bread crumbs was there all along”?
(3) Lots of “guns” have been hung throughout the first seven seasons. Do you think the showrunners will just forget about most of them in their rush to finish up?
Looks like Miguel Sapochnik might be directing episodes 3 and 5.
http://collider.com/justice-league-interview-fabian-wagner-superman-black-suit/
Edward,
No worries, I’m sure there’ll be another article devoted solely to it in detail.
Fuschia,
E1, written by Hill, directed by Nutter. E2, written by Cogman, directed by Nutter.
The season will start with two episodes of tablesetting relationship fluff, it seems. I’m not against fluff, it’s necessary to set up the action, but this much of it? Two episodes? I had hoped this whole ‘you’re my aunt, you’re my nephew’ business would be done in an episode-and-a-half…
Pigeon,
I’m pretty sure that article was already posted a few days ago 🙂 I read it and just remembered I wanted to click on the full interview but forgot, will do now.
firstone,
”I think Arya Stark/Faceless Man/Death will have some twisted scenes scenes with the Night King/Death and maybe even Queen Daenerys or Aegon Targaryen.” Arya will kill Cercei and will reunited with Jaqen..She in the end will travel west of Westeros for some exploration stuff.Danny/Jon will learn the truth about his parentage..that will cause some problems[Jon migh decides to fight with his demons before to tell that in her]….Danny will be pregnant ..the pregnancy might solve the problems between them and he marry her for the sake of the baby …not be a fatherless bastard…Their fate is unknown..but im still thinking the baby will be their successor to the Throne and the Last Targaryen that will restore a new House.
i hope just Sansa doesnt cause problems in Jon/Danny..because of jealousy[she is somehow jealous about Jon and Danny]..They had enough problems with the WW and with Cercei ..and they will have and some problems with Jons parentage too..before Danny/Jon realize that will they have child in S8
Yaga,
Do we know for sure the first two episodes are “fluff”? I am not doubting you; I am worried. That would leave only four episodes for whatever conflicts there are to be set up and play out, along with the “bigger! better! blockbuster!” battles to be staged. Even if the episodes are 90 minutes long it’d be a real challenge to find the time for “high thread count”, character-driven scenes, let alone to give them room to breathe.
I am just speaking for myself. I am sure a large segment of the audience will be salivating for scenes of a Zombie Apocolypse and dragon attacks. I’d just like a tender, lingering moment
when Arya and Jon see each other again, and an equally meaningful, unhurried scene when Sandor’s wolf girls realize he’s alive, he’s evolved. and he’s on their team. Even Tyrion meeting up with Sansa again and Arya with Gendry should have some quality minutes devoted to them.
That’s not asking too much, is it?
firstone,
Unfortunately, I believe D&D already confirmed the Night King will not be a speaking character. I believe they were originally going to include their own language but decided to cut it after season 1. I mean, wight walkers still speak their screechy ice language Skroth, but Night King won’t be speaking the Common Tongue.
Ten Bears,
Everyone has a different preference towards the length and intensity of emotional scenes. ‘Tender and lingering’ for you may be ‘sappy and slow’ for somebody else.
But no worries. The director’s/showrunners’ responsibility is to time these to the preference of the majority of the audience. Judging from the response to the previous seasons, they’ve been doing a good job.
Pete,
Prick.
Ser Hogwyn,
Ser Hogs, sometimes it’s best to ignore things which are stated in the spirit of being inflammatory. (Though I don’t always follow my own advice). Yeah, we get it, Pete’s not a KH fan.
Yaga,
Oh god. “Tender and lingering” does sound sappy and slow. I’ll put it this way: I’d just like a bookend scene for the S1 scene when Nymeria is helping Arya pack, Jon comes in to give Arya Needle, he says “I’m going to miss you”, and she leaps into his arms.
Something on par with that. Not Jorah’s “Hello, I Must Be Going” reunion with his Khaleesi.
On a speculative note, do you think Jaime will have a role to play in Jons legitimacy. If Bran was to tell Jaime things (about himself) that only Jaime would know and relaying the truth of Jons parentage – would Jaime vouch for Jon to the rest of the kingdom?
firstone,
“I am trying to think of how D&D could make the story as unpredictable as possible but still come to a dynamic strong ending and so far I got nothing.“
_________________
You gotta be willing to go down tinfoil rabbit holes.
But don’t rely on me. I thought they were foresgadowing that greyscale was going to be a major force in the story, e.g., an epidemic spreading across the continent at the worst possible time; the COTF’s first, failed attempt to create White Walker prototypes or anti-WW soldiers; the old Valyrian’ misguided experiments to develop germ warfare or biochemical weapons; or something like that.
Turns out that greyscale was only so Jorah could get sick, and then get better. I guess?
So who knows how the tale will end. With a fizzle or a bang?
Ten Bears,
I think you probably have nothing to worry about. I fully expect Jon and Arya to have a closer, silent moment to themselves. Probably between he introduces Sansa and Arya to Dany and Bran barges in with the news.
My problem is that OK, there’s a couple of these scenes that need to happen. Then, there’s a couple of scenes that need to happen *once* Bran comes out with the news, with everyone reacting. I’m all for giving an entire episode to the former, but the latter, not really.
Ten Bears,
And don’t forget Ghost! I am sure D & D will do the reunions you mention well. Jon’s reunion with Sansa was, imo, done very well and there was no relationship previously, unlike Arya . I am sure they are aware that all eyes will be on them to do it justice.
Yaga,
How I wish Bran and Sam, and maybe Jon too, realize they should keep quiet about Jon’s paternity. Northern weasels like Lord Glover will go ballistic if they learn he’s the Mad King’s grandson, and a rape baby to boot if they don’t believe the quickie annulment & marriage story.
Not only that, but good old “honorable” Ned’s reputation will go down the toilet too when people realize he hoodwinked them, and committed treason against his bff Robert. They might not care that Ned did it all out of love for his runaway wild child sister.
Would it not be “bittersweet” if either: (a) Jon never learns he was legitimate and is actually the rightful heir to the throne, and lives out his life as a bastard; or (b) Jon makes the same sacrifice as Ned, and never discloses the secret?
It would also avoid diverting precious minutes to soap operish subplots. I can do without “scenes that need to happen *once* Bran comes out with the news, with everyone reacting.”
Carole H,
Who’s “Ghost”?
(Obviously, just kidding.)
Ten Bears,
Lol. Even Kit Harington asks D&D where Ghost is in the commentary on 707 and apparently he should have been with Jon as he exited the crypts after his to do with Littlefinger .
This really bothered me, I couldn’t figure out why the show gave Jorah that bit of the Young Griff storyline from the books. What is accomplished – are we supposed to conclude that it’ll be important that Jorah has already met (and is hugely indebted to) Sam?
What seems most likely to me is that removing Jorah from the scene as Daenerys’s senior Westerosi advisor created a vacancy that Tyrion could fill.
Carole H,
Cogman confirmed he wrote a scene with him in E2. In that scene Jon said to Ghost that he should watch over anyone named Stark or something like that.
mau,
I would have loved to have seen that but fingers crossed for the next series🤞
Pete,
huh? An actor is supposed to consider all aspects of his character, good or bad. Its not judging, its part of an actors job.
ash,
The showrunners have all the time they want. But they apparently don’t need more. 7-8 seasons was always the plan.
Chilli,
I think people sometimes forget how much time six+ hours is.
It’s essentially three feature films.
You might say GoT is too complex to be wrapped up in such a short amount of time, but that’s no longer true. There are really only a couple of story lines left and most of the important characters are no longer spread out across the world.
Six episodes is plenty.
Ten Bears,
Hell, no, that’s not asking too much.
Remember people, an absent Ghost is a live one and more likely to stay that way.
Carole H,
So I found the movie “Brimstone” on the free list for On demand and watched it because of Kit. Well, what a very short bit he had, and the movie left me feeling depressed. I’m not sure how to feel about it because it WAS engrossing but just punishing and unrewarding. Have you seen?
ygritte,
Yes, I have; it not only left me feeling depressed I was nigh on suicidal! However, saying that, I thought Dakota Fanning was great and I loved the bit with Kit’s character on the toilet, so to speak! I am not keen on English people doing American accents, not many can pull it off (imo, I am not American) so maybe I am wrong; I love Kit’s northern accent though, to a Northerner, like me, it’s very good.
Ten Bears,
No we don’t it just won’t be the biggest epic battle episodes but Nutter is completely capable of doing battle scenes this is the guy who did the red wedding afterall. I imagine the first episode will be softer with all the different reunions, characters meeting for the first time but Nutter is a strong director and he can do far more than fluff
Well, it kind of has to be, doesn’t it? I mean, seriously, could you see the reaction if they were saying “We want to dial it down a few notches and go out with a small, subtle conclusion….”
Most of the time, they sound like Yanks who spent long stretches of time in the UK and still have traces of their secondary accents. (I’ve seen that a lot in colleagues who spent, say, a decade or more in the UK but then moved back to the States.)
Wimsey,
I think some are very good, well to me, for example Idris Elba and Dominic West in The Wire. I was amazed when I found out they were English. I sometimes think it depends on which part of America the character is supposed to have come from. Like everywhere some local accents are stronger than others.
Wimsey,
Professor! Good to see your insight and analyses again.
(*Drops to knees; with outstretched arms, bows up and down a la Wayne and Garth chanting “We’re not worthy!”*)
Another commenter was trying to envision how the showrunners could make the story [in S8] as “unpredictable as possible, but still come to a dynamic, strong ending.” [Firstone, 12/15/17 at 6:12 pm, above]
My reply [12/15/17, 11:33 pm] did not give a specific answer, and instead consisted of questions that invoked some of your teachings to suggest ways to think of a possible solution that will make perfect sense in retrospect.
I would not presume to speak for you. Did I misstate anything? Do you think the showrunners will abide by the principles of efficient storytelling to give a logical, satisfying ending? I’d hate to think that after 73 episodes, the ending will be arbitrary.
Carole H,
Fanning was very good. Guy Pierce was also as the menacing preacher (I think it’s the first I’ve seen the actor) but yeah I was hoping for a happier ending to contrast all the dreariness going before it. Kit did well with the accent but he had to use a noticeable measured cadence to make it work. I prefer the northern accent of Jon Snow to his real life more (posh I think they call it) one 🙂
ygritte:
WHAT?
That’s… just… fundamentally wrong.
May I suggest Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Memento, and L.A. Confidential? You have some catching up to do, young lady.
Slightly OT: Guy Pearce and Carice van Houten are a couple. They had a child together in 2016.
Wolfish,
And he was my favourite actor (Mike) in Neighbours when I was a child. But it’s a good thing not many people remember him from that time. I didn’t even know that it was the same actor when I watched Memento, it’s only when I checked the names that I realised. I’ve also seen him in The Count of Monte Cristo.
I think Jaime is absolutely tied to Jon somehow. In the books, Jaime dreams of Rhaegar charging him to protect his children, agonising over how he, Jaime, had failed. Whether he will learn Jon’s true parentage or not, I think Jaime will continue his path of redemption by protecting Rhaegar’s last remaining child somehow.
The ending is coming directly from GRRM so I don’t believe we’ll ever hear the Night King speak but I strongly suspect he will face off against Jon and potentially Dany too.
ygritte,
Not as posh as your namesake Ygritte. Rose Leslie did a cracking job with the accent considering hers is so ‘posh’ . I loved their relationship, I could watch their scenes over and over again.
Wolfish,
Hee, yes All three are amazing
Did not know this! Seems like all roads lead to GOT (or instead of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, 6 degrees of GOT might work just as well!)
And may I just say it has been a treat the last few days to see, Wimsey true form! You’d been missed!
Chilli,
And he was a great Edward VIII in The King’s Speech. He has wonderful range!
Interesting. The show hasn’t established any Rhaegar-Jaime backstory, has it?
What you’ve described from the books would certainly add poignancy to the S1e2 scene in which Jaime sarcastically insults Jon Snow – not knowing he’s belittling Aegon Targaryen, Rhaegar’s son.
That scene does not appear in the books. Interestingly, in the audio commentary for episode 102, NCW says the interaction between Jon and Jaime at Winterfell was worked in because B&W wanted the two characters to meet. For me, that indicates there was a sense of something happening down the line. I don’t think their encounter in 707 was significant enough to be why they’d meet in 102, so perhaps it has significance for season eight?
Have to say, outside of his blood relations it is Jaime’s reaction I’m most looking forward to seeing with the revelation that Jon is Rhaegar’s trueborn son.
Alba Stark,
Aside from the Rhaegar connection, I wonder how Jaime will react to Jon becoming not just a king but a (legendary?*) swordfighter since their S1 encounter at WF, when a pompous (and then- two-handed) Jaime mocked Jon’s inexperience.
* In the pre-Battle of the Bastards parlay, according to Ramsay: ”I keep hearing stories about you, bastard. The way people in the North talk about you, you’re the greatest swordsman who ever walked.”
I’d have to assume that Jon’s reputation had only grown since then. (Accurate or not, the way the Hot Pie News Network reported it in S7e2, Jon Snow came down from Castle Black with a wildling army and won the Battle of the Bastards.)
In S1e2, Jaime had snarked at Jon:
Jaime: A sword for the Wall?
Jon: l already have one.
Jaime: Good man. Have you swung it yet?
Jon: Of course l have.
Jaime: At someone, l mean…lt’s a strange thing, the first time you cut a man. You realize we’re nothing but sacks of meat and blood, and some bone to keep it all standing. Let me thank you ahead of time for guarding us all from the perils beyond the Wall – wildlings and White Walkers and what not. We’re grateful to have good, strong men like you protecting us.
Jon: We’ve guarded the Kingdoms for 8,000 years.
Jaime: ls it “we” already? Have you taken your vows, then?
Jon: Soon enough.
Jaime: Give my regards to the Night’s Watch.
l’m sure it will be thrilling to serve in such an elite force. And if not…it’s only for life.
Firstly, re: Jaime’s 102 snark – The first time I saw that scene, it confirmed a lot of assumptions I had about Jaime (mostly ones born from him throwing a child from a window). But after seeing the Harrenhal baths scene in 305 and listening to Jaime explain why he’d killed King Aerys, I started to see it differently.
Yes, there is a lot of snark. Yes, that is directed at Jon. But it is also directed at Jaime’s younger self. I think Jaime sees in Jon, and his desire to join the Night’s Watch, the same naivety he had when he joined the Kingsguard around the same age. Aegon the Conqueror’s sister-wife Visenya created the Kingsguard and modeled the vows on those of the Night’s Watch. I like the mirroring of taking the black and taking the white. I think Jon learned the truth of the situation the hard way, just as Jaime did.
I hope that Jaime again sees some of his younger self in Jon and that helps them bond – I really want to see these two work together in season eight! When Jaime was stripped of his role as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard in 606, the scene visually reflected Barristan’s removal from the position back in 108. Barristan went east to track down Daenerys and spoke to her of Rhaegar. I’d like to see the Jaime/Barristan mirroring continue and have him go north and speak to Jon of Rhaegar.
Secondly, re: Jon’s prowess as a swordsman, I think Jaime has to admit that Jon knows a thing or two about fighting the dead. He saw Jon kill a dead man in front of him (albeit one on a Hound’s leash) and I would presume Tyrion told Jaime of Jon’s involvement in the hunting party. Jon’s knowledge of how to kill them speaks of personal experience, I guess?
I’m not entirely sure how news of Jon’s skill got around. Being named Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch at a young age would suggest military skill. Hot Pie’s story seems to have come about through gossip spread through the kingdoms; a story grown in the telling.
As for Ramsay, I kind of assumed that when the Boltons got Jon’s raven asking for military aid (the one Sam had him sign in 504), they quizzed Theon about him as much as they could.
Alba Stark,
What a wonderfully insightful comment. Thank you!!!