British actor Kit Harington, known for his role as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, confessed that he was reluctant to film the intimate sequences with Sophie Turner in the film The Shadow of Fear, which recently hit theaters.
The main reason is the bond that the two built over the years in the series, where brothers Jon Snow and Sansa Stark lived. The production debuted in 2011, with Sophie still 14 years old and Kit 24, and ended in 2019.
“It was strange,” said Kit, who is now 39 years old, when talking about the hottest scenes with his colleague in the new project. The statements came in a recent interview with Peter Dinklage, another veteran of the saga inspired by George R. R. Martin’s books, on Variety’s Actors on Actors program.
In addition to the relationship between the characters in the plot, the actors created real bonds during the recording of the series, with Kit treating Sophie almost like a younger sister. Therefore, the feeling of discomfort remains strong even now that she is 30 years old.
It was Sophie herself who nominated her friend for the role of love interest in the film. “She sent me the script and I told her: ‘Sophie, there’s a lot of our scenes together there,’” said the actor. “She hadn’t noticed. She just said that Kit would be perfect for the character.”
Kit Harington had initial doubts about accepting the invitation precisely because he had known Sophie Turner since childhood and saw her as a younger sister. “We did it. It was disgusting, but in the end everything worked out”, he assured. “She’s an incredible actress. Everyone already knows, but she was a child when she started on Game of Thrones. She’s phenomenal!”
Previously, Sophie Turner had already commented that she also found recording this type of sequence with her former Game of Thrones colleague uncomfortable and even pretended that she was going to vomit during one of the kissing sessions.
“So I sent the script to Kit, and he said something like, ‘Yes, I would love to, but that’s going to be really weird, Soph,’” the actress recalled. “I didn’t understand. When I read the text, I saw: kiss, kiss, sex, kiss, sex… Then I thought: oh, shit, that’s my brother.”
Set in the 15th century, the horror The Shadow of Fear follows Anne (Turner) and her mother-in-law Morwen (Marcia Gay Harden).
Their routine takes a turn for the worse when Jago (Harington), a man from their past, reappears.
