Kit Harington jumped at the chance to join the Wizarding World.
The actor revealed his personal connection to the Harry Potter books in an interview released Monday on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. It was the Harry Potter audiobooks that helped Harington get through his sobriety struggles, the actor said.
“I listen to the Stephen Fry audiobooks. And I do that because my brain is incredibly busy, especially at night, and I’ve always found going to bed very difficult like and my brain doesn’t turn off,” Harington said. “When I got sober that got especially bad. So I started listening to Harry Potter audio books, and now they’re the thing I listen to every night.”
The Game of Thrones actor said because of this, the Harry Potter books “have a very special place in my heart.”
This is especially true after Harington voiced the character Gilderoy Lockhart in Audible’s Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions, which was released in late 2025. He now is set to reprise the role as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts in season 2 of the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series.
“When I knew they were doing this show, I was like, ‘I think that’s a brilliant idea, I think they can really delve into it further than the films did.’ I’m fully supportive of it,” Harington said. “And then I got called to be in it, and that was just a very simple, ‘Yes, please!"”
Harington replaced Nicholas Hoult in the role. Hoult was previously announced to star as the character back in August before he left the part over scheduling issues. HBO had to work around two of Hoult’s preexisting projects, and when it was no longer feasible, the actor was let out of his deal, ABC Audio confirmed at the time.
Gilderoy Lockhart was previously played by Kenneth Branagh in the 2002 film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The first season of the upcoming series, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, debuts on HBO and HBO Max on Dec. 25. Its season 2 renewal was announced on May 6.
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