Jon Snow may know nothing, but Kit Harington knows a good joke when he hears it.
We're, of course, talking about the hilarious Game of Thrones reference in season two, episode three of Modern Love, titled "Strangers on a (Dublin) Train." In Harington's episode of the anthology series, his character, Michael has a meet-cute moment with medievalist Paula (Lucy Boynton) on, you guessed it, a train. When describing his new love interest's specialty to his brother Declan (Jack Reynor), the latter quips, "OK. So, like Game of Thrones and stuff?"
While Harington's character offers up a frustrated stare in response, the 34-year-old actor tells E! News that the line is actually the reason he signed on for Modern Love's new season. "No, that was in the script," he says on whether the moment was improvised by Reynor. "And it's one of the main reasons I did the piece. You know, I read that and I pissed myself laughing."
As E! News readers well know, Harington played prominent character Jon Snow on Game of Thrones between 2011 and 2019.
And, although Harington appreciated the GoT shout-out, Modern Love showrunner John Carney offered to cut the line from the script. "He said, 'We could lose that if you want,'" Harington recalls. "I said, 'No!'...What I like about that moment, without giving too much away about the joke, is that you get the feeling that Michael the character has never seen the show, but it could also work on a level of, like, me the actor going, 'Don't even go there.'"
Of course, that line wasn't the only thing Harington liked about the script. Specifically, as Harington notes, this episode is the only one that deals with the pandemic.
For those who've yet to tune in, Harington and Boynton's characters agree to not exchange numbers after their encounter, rather, they decide to meet up on the train two weeks later. This romantic gesture faces a major hiccup when the coronavirus pandemic shuts the world down.
"Deep down, it's about the choices we all had to make, selfish or otherwise, during the pandemic," he explains, "and where we lay on that moral line. But, at the heart of it, it's a really beautiful, fun, funny piece about that period of time."
Another highlight of the episode? Harington's unexpected Irish accent, which was a first for the English actor.
"I sort of said to John, like, 'I'm gonna try this and I really hope it works, with the backup of, if it doesn't, let me be British somehow,'" he remembers. "And I worked on it with a dialect coach. The worst thing is trying to fudge an accent, you know?"
For all of this and more, including Harington's favorite romantic comedy, watch the exclusive interview above.
Modern Love season two is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.