Kit Harington is opening up about getting sober and the tough times he faced after Game of Thrones ended in 2019. 

According to People, the 34-year-old actor revealed to the U.K.’s Sunday Times, “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,” Harington continued. “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.'”

The GoT alum added, “One of my favorite 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.”

Harington, who recently welcomed his first child, a baby boy, with wife and former Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie, also got candid about suffering from depression and whether he faced suicidal thoughts. 

“I will give you an answer to that question: the answer is yes. Yes of course,” he said. “I went through periods of real depression where I wanted to do all sorts of things… maybe [speaking about this will] help someone, somewhere. 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.”

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also reach the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.

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