‘Game Of Thrones’ star Kit Harington discusses “gender fluid” upbringing

"I asked for an Action Man and I got a doll"

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has opened up about his “gender fluid” upbringing.

The actor, reflecting on the roles he wishes to explore in his future projects, told The Telegraph about his childhood alongside his brother and their mother, former playwright Deborah Jane Catesby.

The actor said he “idolised” his mother as a child, and explained how Catesby taught her sons about gender politics from a young age.

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“I asked for a Mighty Max and she bought me a Polly Pocket,” Harington said. “I asked for an Action Man and I got a doll – it was very gender fluid from the word go. And I went with it.”

He then explained how he wishes to move away from characters that are “silent” and “heroic” like Jon Snow, his Game of Thrones character, moving forward.

“I feel that emotionally men have a problem, a blockage, and that blockage has come from the Second World War, passed down from grandfather to father to son,” Harington said.

“We do not speak about how we feel because it shows weakness, because it is not masculine. Having portrayed a man who was silent, who was heroic, I feel going forward that is a role I don’t want to play any more.”

He added: “It is not a masculine role that the world needs to see much more of.”

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Kit Harington is currently starring in the second season of Netflix anthology series Criminal, in which he plays an estate agent accused of rape now undergoing police questioning.

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