Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Kit Harington Isn’t Trying to Compete With ‘Game of Thrones’

During a break from “Game of Thrones,” Kit Harington co-created and starred in “Gunpowder,” about the failed scheme by Roman Catholic militants to blow up Britain’s Parliament in 1605.Credit...Robert Viglasky/HBO

“Gunpowder,” a new HBO historical thriller, gave Kit Harington the chance to produce his first show, investigate a “family curiosity” and branch out from his more well-known gig as Jon Snow on “Game of Thrones.” But he admitted that his day job did skew his perspective.

“I walked onto the set on ‘Gunpowder,’ going, ‘What do you mean we don’t have 200 extras?’” he said jokingly. “Nothing competes with ‘Thrones.’ I knew that going in.”

The three-part mini-series, debuting on Monday, Dec. 18, on HBO, recreates the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the failed scheme by Roman Catholic militants to blow up the House of Lords in London and assassinate the Protestant King James I and many others in the process. The foiling of the plan was commemorated with a national holiday on Nov. 5, the day the attack was supposed to transpire, which has evolved into the festive annual celebration known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night, after the conspirator who was discovered the night before with the explosives.

“The story is about a group of violent and angry young men planning on a massacre in the name of their faith,” Mr. Harington said. “It’s a story that could be lifted off any modern news channel.”

He said that the producers strove for historical accuracy in the dramatized events in “Gunpowder,” which unfolds in a mucky 17th-century England in which Catholics risk torture and execution by secretly practicing their religion. Mr. Harington plays Robert Catesby, the plot mastermind and his own distant ancestor. (His middle name, and his mother’s maiden name, is Catesby.) Other stars include Liv Tyler; Peter Mullan; a slithery Mark Gatiss, as the court operator Sir Robert Cecil; and Tom Cullen, whose fearsome Guy Fawkes is a barbarous departure from the radical chic symbol favored by many hackers and activists.

Mr. Harington partnered with his friend Daniel West and the writer Ronan Bennett to develop the series, which was shot in the spring of 2017 in Yorkshire and debuted in Britain in October. While this actor wasn’t necessarily burning to get into producing, “when you have a very clear idea of how it should be done, you don’t want to hand those decisions over to someone else,” he said.

An audibly weary Mr. Harington discussed “Gunpowder” from Belfast, where he is shooting the final season of “Game of Thrones.” (“It was a grueling day, I’m not going to lie,” he said.) These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

What drew you to this story?

It’s a piece of family curiosity: I’m distantly related to the person I’m playing. It’s a fascinating story in a fascinating time in England. On Nov. 5 in the U.K., we set off fireworks — it’s a bit like our Independence Day. And then if you look at it, it’s really about a great act of violence by a group of young men. And it hadn’t really been told much before.

Can you help me, and other Americans who will watch it, understand why an unsuccessful religious insurrection is still celebrated?

You see, that’s the funny thing — really why it became remembered is because the government made it a national holiday so every Catholic in the land, and everyone thinking about treason, would remember the 5th of November and why they shouldn’t do what they’re thinking of doing. It was a piece of propaganda. Now it’s become this wonderful evening of toffee apples and fireworks and fun and mulled wine. It’s changed its meaning.

But really, as an American, you probably know about as much about it as the average Brit. You ask the average English person on the street, “What do you know about the Gunpowder Plot?,” and they kind of know the name Guy Fawkes, that it’s sort of about people blowing up Parliament, but that’s about it.

The Guy Fawkes portrayed here might surprise people who basically know him from the mask, which has a certain debonair quality.

Guy Fawkes was a brutal mercenary Catholic. He was very religious and wanted to fight for the faith, and he was brought in as an explosives expert. He certainly wasn’t debonair — he was a violent man, one the other plotters seem to have been quite scared of in many ways. So we based it on history. “V for Vendetta” [the graphic novel and the 2006 film adaptation, tracking a revolutionary anarchist], which I love, brought round the Occupy Wall Street kind of nihilistic mask that we know about as Guy Fawkes. But the name has sort of been twisted away from who the person was.

Image
Liv Tyler plays Anne Vaux, a cousin of Mr. Harington’s character, who gets caught up in the brazen assassination plot.Credit...Robert Viglasky/HBO

“Gunpowder” is quite gory, with scenes of disemboweling and other torture. How do you balance being historically accurate with not revolting viewers?

It was revolting. You can’t tell a piece of history realistically if you’re avoiding some of the most gruesome and terrible things people were doing to each other. Why did we have to depict such violence? Well, it was important to see why Robert Catesby and the men around him decided to try to kill many, many people.

As a producer, what was the hardest part of pulling off this series?

I never really realized quite how difficult shooting a period drama is, even having been in one for years. I’ve never really been on the other side, trying to organize it or make it work. Everyone has to be in expensive costumes. You can’t just walk out into the street and film something — you’ve got to build the street.

What did you learn about Catesby?

He’s a widower, which is very important in our story. He was so religious, and maybe there was something very selfish in this man — he wanted to get to heaven to see his wife again, so he didn’t care whether he died in this mission or not. I went through periods of really disliking him, of going, “You bastard — you basically sacrificed not only your life, but your friends’ lives.”

What do he and Jon Snow have in common?

They’re both quite introverted in some ways, and they’re both very serious about what they believe. They both hold their morals, and their moral compass and their code of honor, very close to their chest. But they’re entirely opposite in what they set out to achieve. Jon Snow’s all about protecting lives and saving lives and doing everything he can to avoid violence in many ways. Catesby’s the opposite: He wants to see death and destruction.

They share a certain heedlessness.

I think that heedlessness comes from being a young man in a violent society, seeking some kind of recognition. I think their bravado is based around their stupid male nature, in many ways.

Along similar lines, over here we’re having an ever-expanding reckoning with sexual predators in the entertainment industry. Is this being felt in Britain at all?

Yeah, the Weinstein scandal kicked it off over the pond as well. Kevin Spacey was the head of the Old Vic for many years — we’re discovering the allegations made against him. Within British theater, there’s been a problem for many years. This is something that has been going on forever, and not just in the States. It’s everywhere.

It’s upsetting and disturbing, but it’s not shocking. I think most actors hear stories, and people in the industry hear stories. It’s just very hard for people to come out and talk about it. But the doors have been blown open a bit, and we can only be thankful for that.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section AR, Page 18 of the New York edition with the headline: A Very Contemporary 17th-Century Plot. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT