First of all, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. I think, this is going to be a good one and I am going to make some big things here so, please, come back to take a look to the updates.
Kit Harington attended the 7th Annual Sean Penn & Friends HAITI RISING Gala benefiting J/P Haitian Relief Organization on January 6, 2018 in Hollywood. Go to the gallery to take a look to the photos and please, credit this site if you take these.
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington shifts into producing with Gunpowder, a miniseries in which he plays his real-life ancestor on his mother’s side, Catholic rebel Robert Catesby. Catesby was part of Britain’s 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament. Gunpowder airs on HBO nightly from Dec. 18 to Dec. 20. TIME spoke to Harington—currently at work on the final season of Thrones—about coming into his own as a producer and what he learned from his bosses on the Game of Thrones set.
When did you first learn you were related to Robert Catesby?
I don’t actually know—it was one of those first things you learn, one of those family stories, one of those pieces of family curiosity. I can’t pinpoint when I knew or found out about it. What went into the inception of this piece is the drama around that piece of history. That’s how I started approaching it, from the family connection to him, but it’s just one of those family things you grow up with.
Did you find Catesby to be a relatable figure?
As I went along trying to depict Catesby and get into his head, the less I sympathized with him. He’s persecuted—I see why he does what he does. But the more I looked, the more I realized he’s an incredibly selfish person. He takes a whole lot of people along with him who wouldn’t have ended up becoming attempted murderers. Reading up on him and looking at the real historical person, he thought quite a lot of himself. He really felt he was on the way to change history. He basically after a while couldn’t see what he was attempting which was to kill innocent people and become as bad as those people who were persecuting him.
It must be a complicated thing that you’ve now made this project bringing a family name further into the light—and yet you’ve depicted him as an impetuous, zealous, person. How did your parents feel about this project?
They were over the moon about it! It must have been 2005, my mum had written a very good piece for the radio—she’s a playwright, and she wrote a really good piece about the women of the Gunpowder Plot, and she wrote about Catesby’s mother. She looked into the complexity of it as well. Because of that, she was very pleased I had the same thought to do something around it.
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HBO Europe has loaded up on “Gunpowder” and will show the BBC period series on its networks in the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe, and Spain.
The three-parter is a retelling of the 17th-century “Gunpowder Plot” to blow up the British Houses of Parliament. “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington plays the lead role of Robert Catesby, a persecuted Catholic who hatched the plan.
Harington is a direct descendant of Catesby and helped develop “Gunpowder” through his production company Thriker Films. It made the show with Kudos, which is part of the Endemol Shine Group.
Endemol Shine International sells the series and inked the HBO Europe deal. It has already sold the series to HBO in the U.S.
HBO subscribers are familiar with Harington through the cabler’s biggest series, “Game of Thrones,” and in “Gunpowder” will see him alongside Liv Tyler (“Lord of the Rings”), Peter Mullan (“Top of the Lake”), and Mark Gatiss (“Sherlock”).
The limited series went out on flagship channel BBC One in the U.K. in October. “Not only fans of Kit Harington, but also thriller fans can look forward to this historical, explosive miniseries event,” said Ragnhild Thorbech, SVP acquisitions & programming, HBO Europe.
“’Gunpowder’ is a powerful drama that delivered brilliant ratings for BBC One,” added Cathy Payne, CEO of Endemol Shine International. “HBO Europe’s lineup continues to feature many of the strongest television offerings we have seen available globally in 2017, and we are pleased to continue our ongoing relationship.” [Source]
In a savvy awards show move, Gold Derby has learned exclusively that HBO will submit “Game of Thrones” scene-stealers Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington in the lead categories at the 2018 Golden Globes. This summer’s seventh season focused more prominently on their characters — queen of dragons Daenerys Targaryen and no-longer-bastard Jon Snow — which in turn gave the actors more screen time than ever before. Now that Clarke and Harington have jumped up to the lead races, it’s time to go in and update your Golden Globes predictions for Best TV Drama Actress and Best TV Drama Actor.
If this new strategy works out, both stars will be earning their first career Golden Globe nominations. Clarke scored a trio of Emmy noms (2013, 2015, 2016) while Harington earned a single Emmy bid in 2016. “Game of Thrones” has romped through the Emmys in recent years, winning Best Drama Series twice (2015-2016) and claiming a record of 38 awards over the course of its run. However, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has only given the show six nominations, with a single win for Peter Dinklage as Best TV Supporting Actor in 2012.
After six years apart, Season 7 of HBO’s fantasy epic finally allowed Clarke and Harington to share scenes — and bed sheets — together in their quest to rule the iron throne. What the characters don’t realize quite yet is that Daenerys is actually Jon’s aunt, which makes their love scene in the season finale all the more awkward.
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Kit Harington on the modern relevance of his BBC series Gunpowder, Harvey Weinstein – and Game of Thrones’ final scenes!
Kit Harington is at Broadcasting House. And as a fan of the BBC’s own self-mocking comedy W1A he’s finding the experience pretty funny. A quarter of an hour earlier, the actor was appearing on The One Show. “A really thorough grilling, you can imagine,” he says, with a gently mocking raise of the eyebrow.
After a quick cigarette, hidden from adoring fans waiting patiently just yards away, we wander back through the now-deserted television studio; smaller, tattier and less homely with no lights or topical banter to warm the atmosphere. Upstairs we venture past Royston Vasey (a meeting room) towards The Queen Vic (another meeting room), before settling down on the bright sofas of Albert Square (a communal meeting space).
Next Monday he begins filming the eighth and final series of Game Of Thrones. The beard and long locks are all ready to resume his role of Jon Snow – only the intense scowl is missing.
“I buy The Big Issue, regularly. I have been buying it off a guy on Essex Road recently. I have never learnt his name, and I should,” he says, before sharing his worries about how our vendors will manage as more and more people become post-cash consumers. He seems reassured to hear that we have already been testing cashless payment gizmos.
Gunpowder, which ends on Saturday night, feels like the start of a new stage in Harington’s career. The 30-year-old is testing the water for life after the show he endearingly refers to as “Thrones”. The idea for the three-part series grew from Harington’s middle name, Catesby being a throwback to a relative on his mother’s side, Robert Catesby – the brains behind the infamous Gunpowder plot.
He now has the power within the industry to create a primetime BBC One drama from “this piece of family curiosity.” He knows where the credit for that lies.
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HBO has acquired the Kit Harington-led BBC One miniseries “Gunpowder” and plans to release the three-part drama in December, the premium cabler announced Tuesday.
The miniseries is based on the real 17th century “Gunpowder Plot,” in which a group of English Catholics led by Robert Catesby tried and failed to kill the King of England by blowing up the House of Lords. Harington stars as Catesby, who was a committed Catholic at a time when Protestant England persecuted Catholics relentlessly. The first episode will debut Dec. 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the other parts on the subsequent two nights at the same time.
“Three years ago, Daniel West and I conceived and began developing ‘Gunpowder’ with Kudos and Ronan Bennett,” said Harington. “We are now thrilled to share this unique story with the U.S. audience. I can’t think of a better place to do that than my home at HBO.”
Harington, who currently stars in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” is a descendant of Catesby’s. He stars alongside Peter Mullan, Mark Gatiss, and Liv Tyler. Ronan Bennett served as writer with J. Blakeson directing. It was produced by Kudos–part of Endemol Shine Group–in association with Thriker Films, originally for BBC One.
“We are delighted to offer a platform for a project that is so close to Kit Harington’s heart,” says Kary Antholis, president of HBO miniseries and Cinemax programming. “Kit’s passion for and belief in ‘Gunpowder’ are evident in every frame of the miniseries.”
Executive producers on the project are Ollie Madden for Kudos, Matthew Read for the BBC, and Bennett. Harington and Daniel West are co-executive producers for Thriker Films. Laurie Borg produces. Endemol Shine International distributes the series internationally. The deal with HBO was struck by Matt Creasey, executive vice president of sales & acquisitions for Endemol Shine International. [Source]
When Kit Harington was a schoolboy in Martley, Worcester, in the late ’90s, he liked to tell friends the truth about Bonfire Night. It wasn’t Guy Fawkes, he’d say, who was the brains behind the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. It was a devout Catholic from Warwickshire called Robert Catesby.
He was the one who devised the plan to blow up Parliament, wipe out King James I and, in so doing, the ruling Protestant elite. Guy Fawkes was just one of the plotters. The question of why Fawkes is etched into the mythology of 5 November, and not Robert Catesby, is a personal one for Harington: he is a distant relative.
‘My middle name is Catesby and it’s something I was proud of,’ he says. ‘It’s a part of my family history.’
Harington went on to find fame as Jon Snow in the HBO series Game of Thrones (where he also met fiancée Rose Leslie; the couple announced their engagement last month). But he never forgot his relative. And now, more than 400 years after his death, Harington has, in his own way, led a campaign to ensure that we don’t either.
Gunpowder is a three-part BBC One drama developed by Harington (he also plays Catesby), written by Ronan Bennett (the screenwriter and novelist best known for TV crime-drama series Top Boy) and directed by J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed).
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