Kit Harington tries to pretend to know nothing as Stephen Colbert guesses Game Of Thrones endings
So have you heard about this throne-games show? Seems like a pretty big deal. At least that’s the sense you’d get during Tuesday’s Late Show anyway, as Kit Harington came out to what Stephen Colbert described as unusual squeals of Beatles-esque delight from his audience. For the unassuming Harington, it was all in line with how awed he says he still is by the massive popularity he’s enjoyed during the ten year-run of the even more massively popular HBO series. Shown a picture of his 22-year-old self cuddling a baby dire wolf in the series first episode, Harington told Colbert he’s still pinching himself, and that at least now he can grow a decent beard. He did suggest that these ten years might have had something to do with the dire state of our world, noting that “certain political figures tried to emulate Joffrey.” “Got the hair,” nodded Colbert.
Describing the filming of the long-anticipated Battle Of Winterfell that will cap off Game Of Thrones’ eighth and final season as a singular test of endurance, Harington assured Colbert that the all the effort—and, for fans, the extremely impatient waiting—will be worth it. Still, as Colbert noted in reference to 55 days of night shoots, in the winter, in Belfast, “That must suuuuck.” Harington, warily on Actor’s Watch all throughout the 12-minute interview against spoilers, did let it slip that, yeah, that sucked.
That’s not to say that Colbert, being the Game Of Thrones nut and inveterate wheedler that he is, didn’t do everything in his power to get his guest to violate the HBO code of silence with Littlefinger-like deviousness. With Harington explaining that he’s not even allowed to lie about the series’ end lest that be used to eliminate even the most remote possibilities, Colbert set to work trying to get his guest in career/life-threatening peril. He started off well enough, snapping, “So it takes place at night!” at Harington’s revelation about those night shoots. But he was up against a steely nemesis in Harington, who confessed that he hasn’t even told Rose Leslie, his on- and off-screen love interest (John Snow and Ygritte got married last year in our world), telling Colbert, “She has guesses every single possible outcome” except the right one. Still, she didn’t have a close-up TV camera at her disposal, as Colbert instructed his cameraperson to push in on Harington’s face while Colbert peppered the actor with, as it turns out, silly rather than probing guesses. “Please do nothing with your face!,” Colbert ordered, although Harington was unable to stay impassive once Colbert suggested a Sopranos ending, a flash-of-inspiration George R.R. Martin cameo, and, finally, a fantasy franchise crossover just cleverly impossible enough to be worthy of a Patton Oswalt filibuster.
Game Of Thrones’ final season begins April 14.