Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Industry Season 3.
Actor Kit Harington may forever be known as Jon Snow from the TV show Game of Thrones. It’s been hard for him to shake off the association, even with a handful of other roles he’s done since. Finally, in the HBO series Industry, Harington is given a chance to display what else he’s capable of — and to break out of the Jon Snow mold that he’s been working in. In Industry Season 3, Harington plays an unrelentingly dramatic and annoying yet charming character, Henry Muck. The spoiled rich guy taking his company public is a delicious delight, as Harington balances the intensity of the drama with underlying humor. It’s a much more multi-faceted and developed character than we’re used to seeing Harington play, and it’s the perfect one to show off the full spectrum of his talents.
Kit Harington Struggled To Break Through After ‘Game of Thrones’
On Game of Thrones, Kit Harington played Jon Snow for eight seasons, and it is his most recognizable and acclaimed role to date. A lot happened to Snow through his arc on the show, but Harington’s performance remained quite level and steady throughout. Jon Snow is a character with strong determination but has only so much emotional range to play with. The actor showed his darker, purposeful, and more grounded side in the role, and became hugely beloved because of his dependability throughout the series. Game of Thrones proved that he is a more-than-capable dramatic actor, but it left little room for his sense of humor and personality to shine through.
In 2015, television audiences got to see the funny side of Harington for the first time, when he co-starred alongside Andy Samberg in the HBO comedy special, 7 Days in Hell. The special was presented as a sports mockumentary following a week-long tennis match between two rivals — Samberg as fictional American tennis star Aaron Williams, and Harington as the British Charles Poole. Harington holds his own in the special, even when playing alongside an experienced comedy great like Samberg. With the material being so ridiculously absurd, it needed someone like Harington, known for his serious and moody work as Jon Snow, to ground the special so it didn’t totally derail its silliness.
Harington also showed off his comedy chops when he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2019, where his appearance made it clear that the often brooding actor does indeed have a great sense of humor. He seemed to enjoy himself and was also able to make fun of himself and his work. But the role of Jon Snow was still at the forefront of everyone’s minds, featuring heavily in his monologue and sketches. Even as recently as 2022, there was still talk of Jon Snow with a now-defunct Game of Thrones spin-off series in early development, with Harington set to reprise his role. It’s been the biggest part of his career, and other parts that he’s taken on since aren’t breaking through on the same level, even if they’re creatively or critically rewarding. He even tried his hand at another huge IP when he made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Dane Whitman in Eternals, but nothing has yet really come of it.
‘Industry’ Allows Kit Harington To Leave Jon Snow Behind
Until Industry cast him in Season 3, it seemed that Kit Harington’s post-GOT career wasn’t as challenging or as interesting as it could be. As Industry’s Henry Muck, Kit Harington plays a spoiled rich brat who is about to take his green energy company, Lumi, public. This character has a lot of layers for Harington to peel back, and the actor appears to relish finally playing someone so full of energy and complexity.
Harington gives an unrestrained performance, as Henry has some big personality and mood swings — one moment he is fully in charge of an exciting energy startup, and the next he is cowering in a public bathroom unable to show his face. He’s charming and friendly, then brash and arrogant all in one go. The wild intensity of the character is unlike anything Harington has displayed on-screen before, and he balances this intensity with an underlying comicality that is joyous to watch, even when the character is being despicable.
While Game of Thrones took its time to build the character of Jon Snow, Industry wastes no time with Henry Muck. He’s introduced in the first episode of Season 3, and by Episode 2, he’s already laying it all bare. He comes to blows with his colleagues, he tries on his schoolboy charm to claw his way back from failure, he has a total emotional breakdown and hides in a bathroom stall, and even manages to try and seduce a main Industry character. It’s high-octane and rapid fire at a pace we’ve not seen Harington play at before.
Kit Harington Balances Dramatic Intensity With Humor on ‘Industry’
Kit Harington finds the humor in the obnoxious Henry Muck, and perfectly balances the comedy with full-throttle drama. In Season 3, Episode 2, “Smoke and Mirrors,” Henry has a hilarious confrontation with Pierpoint’s Robert (Harry Lawtey). After experiencing a tragedy, Robert is in no mood to put up with Henry’s petulant whims. Totally done kissing up to him, Robert picks a fight with Henry, and it’s fair to say that it’s one of the funniest scenes from Industry in its short run so far. Firstly, it takes place in a children’s playroom, the surroundings deflating the tension of the moment to emphasize the ridiculousness of these two grown men. They are kicking up toys in a rage, with Robert smothering Henry with a stuffed toy at one point. The fight begins with a verbal escalation, peppered with colorful language from Henry — and Harington revels in these lines.
Part of what makes this performance so great is that it is so unexpected from Harington, based on what we’ve seen previously from him. Could you imagine Jon Snow using such vulgar language or displaying half as much enthusiasm as Henry Muck? It’s not necessarily the dialogue that brings the humor to the scene, but rather Harington’s delivery and his embodiment of the volatile Henry. He portrays a mixture of arrogance, charm, bewilderment, and obliviousness that makes this character so much more funny than pathetic. A line that is inherently not funny but becomes so with Harington’s delivery is when Henry notices a hole in his shirt after his fight with Robert. “Do we have a jacket in the office?” he asks his assistant. “No, you implemented a no-jacket policy,” she responds. He closes his eyes and pauses, quietly realizing he’s made another stupid move but will never admit to it.
Harington does more by just blinking and smiling in this role than he did all through his years as the sulky Jon Snow. Henry’s over-confidence levels down quickly in a board meeting scene in “Smoke and Mirrors,” as the members confront him about his performance and future. He responds with a quiver in his voice, fleeting eyes, and a recurring nervous smile, before running away to lock himself in a bathroom, in a scene that would be just as at home in a sitcom as it is here. As Henry, Harington even gets to show off his sexier side in scenes with Pierpoint’s Yasmin (Marisa Abela). After she saves the day, he dappers up and invites her out for dinner. “Did you invite me here to watch you eat?” she asks. “No. I invited you here to seduce you,” he replies, a newfound confidence and swagger in his demeanor — miles apart from the bumbling, nervous, posh idiot from earlier.
With Industry Season 3, Kit Harington is given an opportunity to play an enigmatic character unlike he’s ever played before. His exaggerated manner at times could be considered over-acting, but it suits the role perfectly — in this fast-paced drama, he rides the intensity and finds the humor in every plausible scene. Far from his brooding days of Jon Snow, Kit Harington is reborn as an actor with his most enjoyable character to date in Henry Muck.
Industry is streaming on Max in the U.S., with new episodes of Season 3 airing every Sunday.
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