Some roles put actors in an unbearably difficult situation, prompting insane physical and mental transformations, that turn out to be haunting when looking back. Many actors have done that for roles that shaped their careers, and MCU star Kit Harington is the same.
The Game of Thrones fame Harington jumping into action roles was no shock, he was perfectly fit for the roles he plates, or at least, he got into shape. The actor’s extensive diet plan for some roles was insanely extreme.
Kit Harington’s Insane Diet Plans and Fight Scene With Real Weapon
Kit Harington has gained popularity from the HBO series Game of Thrones. But for the role, he maintained the physique he developed when he starred in Paul W. S. Anderson’s action adventure Pompeii. Harrington and his co-star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje maintained a 1,800-calorie everyday diet as instructed, which was “designed specifically for our bodies to be attuned to lose fat and pop out muscles,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje revealed. “I was eating all the time: loads of good carbs, like brown rice and sweet potatoes. And lots of chicken,” Harington told Men’s Health once.
“‘I’m not a 6′ 3’ guy who can bulk up and just look like an absolute unit, a tank. My body type has a tiny bit of stockiness to it but it’s really quite wiry, so for Pompeii that was the sort of look I had to go for — ‘prison fit’, like Robert De Niro in Cape Fear.”
Also, the actors have done all their fight scenes with real weapons in the movie.
“That involved four weeks prior to the movie’s starting, of going to this room with our wonderful stunt people and training very hard every day,” Harington told VF Daily, adding, “And learning swordfights with one sword, and two swords.”
The gladiator training panned out in Harington’s favor as he was already playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, who was gaining more prominence each season.
Kit Harington Landed on More Action in Game of Thrones
Following his extreme grasp on the Pompeii role, Harington laned on even more and continuous action in HBO’s one of the most popular drama series Game of Thrones. It is safe to assume that Pompeii has helped the actor’s growth in the series. “Neil Marshall, who directs some of the episodes of Game of Thrones, called me to say thank you,” Pompeii director Paul W.S. Anderson said (via Vanity Fair).
“Because when we gave Kit back to them for the new season, he said, ‘Kit has become a really great swordsman. Thank you so much.’ So they definitely benefited from the hard work he did for our movie.”
But Game of Thrones fighting scenes are even grittier than Pompeii. “In Game of Thrones, the fights are far more, kind of earthy, gritty, and practical,” Harington said. They last about four or five beats, and then someone’s dead, the actor added.
“‘That’s kind of how we do it in Thrones. And also, I’m holding a big, broad sword, it’s a different period of history—or fantasy.’ Gladiator-style fighting is different. ‘This is showmanship. You’re brought into the ring to entertain, so there’s a certain more elevated, slightly more showy type of fighting. And also, the fights were longer, there were more of them, they were more flashy.’”
The actor who played a young boy at drama school never expected to be an action star. It is, in fact, surreal and surprising for the actor. However, he certainly cherishes it and is happy being right at the moment.
Source: Looper
