Lucky for Kit Harington, his real-life romance with Rose Leslie is a much happier story than his character Jon Snow’s relationship with Yigritte (played by Leslie) on Game of Thrones. The two met on the set of GOT’s second season, and according to Harington, he knew she was “the one” not long after they met.
During a Game of Thrones convention, Harington took the stage to talk all things Jon Snow. One fan asked him about his on-screen chemistry with his real-life wife Rose Leslie, who played Ygritte on the show. The actor then recalled the first time he met his eventual wife while making GOT (via Insider), saying:
We first met having a costume fitting. I remember she offered me a ginger biscuit and I went, 'Yes please!' I remember coming back home and saying to my best friend like, 'Oh God, I think I found the one.'
How adorable is that!? To me, this sounds like it was love at first sight for Harington, and now the couple has been together for years. According to the article, the audience gave a nice “aww” after hearing this sweet story. Harington smiled recalling the moment, and said:
There is nothing better in life than falling in love with the person you are in love with on-screen. It's just astonishing. Sorry to be smushy. But you fall in love and you never get that initial giddy feeling back, but you'll have moments when you fall in love with each other again. The other day I reminded her of it — every time we think about it we grin.
I’m sorry, I can’t, this is too cute, especially considering just how incredible their romance was on screen. On the show, Ygritte was Jon Snow’s first love, and arguably only love, considering the one other romantic relationship he had ended brutally, and it was quite messy considering the complexity of the Targaryen family tree. This relationship with the woman beyond The Wall was one of the happier points of Jon Snow’s story, and to hear about the admiration and love Harington has for that arc is lovely.
The actor also discussed working with Leslie during the early seasons of Thrones, and the differences between her and Ygritte, as well as the actress’ ability to turn on the sass. Harington said:
But yeah the Ygritte thing... I just saw Rose. The funny thing about Rose is that she's so good and so sweet and so lovely and then she lets her fierceness out in her characters. So you're having a lovely chat with your girlfriend and then suddenly she's biting your face off in a scene.
The two have such a fun relationship on screen, and I’d assume it’s similar off-screen too, considering some of the stories we’ve heard about them. For example, Harington pranked Leslie with his fake severed head from Game of Thrones days before they got engaged. The actor also revealed he told his wife how GOT ended, and she wouldn’t speak to him for days.
Following the prank and their engagement, the two got married in 2018. Leslie and Harington then welcomed their child to the world in 2020.
Professionally, both actors have been staying busy. This year Leslie starred in The Time Traveler’s Wife series as well as the film Death on the Nile. As for Harington, he joined the MCU in Eternals last year, and he is currently in development on a show about Jon Snow.
While we wait to see the return of Jon Snow, you can relive his tragic, but beautiful love story with Ygritte on Game of Thrones, which ended up sparking a happy real-life love story, with an HBO Max subscription.
