(CNN) -- "Game of Thrones," the wonderfully bloody and lustful series, is back for a second season starting April 1 on HBO. Kit Harington plays Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Ned who is also known by the moniker, "the bastard." Before he had even graduated from drama school, the Worcestershire native won the lead role in the West End production of "War Horse." Calling from London, the 25 year old actor is unfailingly polite, apologizing profusely for having missed a scheduled time to chat. Harington also admits (jokingly) that he can't really consider himself an English actor because he never appeared in the "Harry Potter" series.
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Kit Harington plays Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Ned, on HBO's "Game of Thrones"
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Harington: "I don't wash [my hair] anyway when I'm filming."
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Harington: "There's a huge difference between stage fighting and real sword fighting"
"I kind of wanted to audition for '@placeholder' when it was first being done but I think I was a year too old."
I went to school, you do these exams and I put down @placeholder and the teacher said, "That's not your name," and I said, "Yeah I think I'd know my own name!"