British actor Kit Harington spent years on the set of some of the biggest films and TV shows of the last decade, from his breakthrough role as Jon Snow in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” to Sir Henry Muck in BBC’s “Industry” and his introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dane Whitman in Chloe Zhao’s “Eternals.” Now, the seasoned actor is moving behind the cameras, with his directorial debut, “Psychopomp,” playing in competition at the Raindance Film Festival.
The short film, inspired by works such as Michael Mann’s “Heat” and Martin McDonagh’s “In Bruges,” follows desperate man Harry (Harry Melling) and hired assassin Liam (Ciarán Owens) as they take a car trip toward a life-changing decision. Speaking with Variety ahead of the film’s screening at Raindance, Harington says his decision to step into directing was “growing as a kind of annoyance for a while.”
“I’d be on set as an actor and thinking about how I would shoot a scene, what notes I would give to an actor,” he goes on. “You can’t suggest a shot to a director or give a note to another actor on set, and [that] was a growing need I was feeling that told me that I had to make my own thing to see if that instinct was the right one to follow.”
