Game of Thrones: Kit Harington rants against show's critics – 'They can go f*** themselves'

Actor admits he feels 'quite defiant' about the HBO show

Kit Harington has slammed Game of Thrones‘s critics, saying those who make negative judgements on the HBO show can “go f*** themselves”.

The actor spoke to Esquire as the show began its eighth and final season, admitting he has come to feel “quite defiant” about the series.

“I think no matter what anyone thinks about this season – and I don’t mean to sound mean about critics here – but whatever critic spends half an hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgement on it, in my head they can go f*** themselves,” Harington said.

“’Cause I know how much work was put into this. I know how much people cared about this. I know how much pressure people put on themselves and I know how many sleepless nights working or otherwise people had on this show. [...]

“Now if people feel let down by it, I don’t give a f*** – because everyone tried their hardest.”

Harington made the comments after being asked whether he and the rest of the cast felt additional “emotional or creative pressure while shooting the final season of Game of Thrones, and how he managed the public’s expectations.

The show’s eighth season premiered on Sunday, 14 April. The Independent‘s reviewer Ed Cumming was left underwhelmed by the first episode, writing: “Nothing so freighted with expectation could possibly live up to it, and the first episode of season eight doesn’t” and adding that “there isn’t much going on” in this first instalment.

Cumming wrote about Harington’s performance in the episode: ”Kit Harington’s shortcomings as an actor are abundantly clear by this point, but we have to cheer the poor lad in, like that bloke in the Olympic swimming when everyone else was disqualified.”

Game of Thrones is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK, and on HBO in the US.