Kit Harington talks 'emotional' end to 'Game of Thrones,' new movie 'Brimstone'

Harington said he's not going to try to compete with the success of "Thrones."

ByABC News
March 10, 2017, 10:44 AM

— -- "Game of Thrones" fans may be sad that they have only two seasons left to root for Jon Snow and watch as Cersei Lannister rules Westeros with an "iron" fist as Daenerys gears up for potential war.

But fans may be delighted at yesterday's announcement of the date for the series to return for season 7 -- July 16.

ABC News spoke to the show's star Kit Harington to talk about its ambitions for the new season, the eventual ending and his character Jon's fate. Harington also opened up about his new film, "Brimstone (in theaters and On Demand today)," and where he sees his career going post-"Thrones."

In "Brimstone," Harington takes on the persona of a classic gunslinger seeking revenge. He stars opposite the likes of Dakota Fanning and Guy Pearce.

"My story follows the kind of younger version of Dakota and her experience with my character and someone who tries to come along and save her," he told ABC News. "He tries to take her away from the miserable existence she's in."

After doing comedy in "7 Days in Hell" and playing the hero in "Thrones," Harington said, "Cowboy sounded like a great place to go next ... The first thing you do when you're a kid is playing around, pick up cowboy guns and shoot your friends with them."

Harington, 30, also brings a new Southern dialect to his role in this thriller of a Western, which might take some getting used to for his "Thrones" fans. He joked the accent might be a little "inaccurate."

"I had very little time" to prep, he said. "I found out I got the role about a day before flying out, so where you usually have a couple of months to work on an accent, character traits, whatever, I had literally 24 hours ... I had to just place him somewhere, so I said, 'I'll try Southern.'"

PHOTO: Actor Kit Harington arrives at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater, Sept. 18, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Actor Kit Harington arrives at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater, Sept. 18, 2016, in Los Angeles.

Harington also talked about where he sees his career going after "Thrones" ends, saying he wants to get into "as many eclectic things as possible," including producing and working behind the scenes.

"You know, getting back into theater, after 'Thrones' I'd love to do another TV series. I've really enjoyed it, and it's been very important to me," he said. "The thing I'm not going to try and do is compete with the success of 'Thrones.' You only get something like that once in your life. To try and chase that success, whatever that was, is a mistake."

Harington said he has thought about how Jon will finish his epic run on the show, which included dying and coming back to life last season.

"We all have our theories and theorize together as actors ... Honestly, no one has any idea [how it ends]," he said. "That's what's magnificent about it. I can't wait, I'm going to feel so privileged to be one of the few people who is going to get to read the ending before anyone else sees it, a year before. I really am counting down the days till I get those scripts."

He said those final days will be "emotional, because I won't have any more to read after that. But I have no idea where it's going to go, no idea what's going to happen to Jon."

"It'll end at the right time for me. I'll feel like I've finished a journey, but it will be very emotional. I'm sort of already gearing up for finishing it now," he added.

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