Christopher Catesby Kit Harington born December 26 1986 is an English actor He is known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones 20112019 for which he received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Harington made his professional acting debut in 2009 with the lead role of Albert Narracott in the West End play War Horse He developed produced and starred as Robert Catesby in the 2017 BBC drama series Gunpowder His film roles include the historical romance film Pompeii 2014 the period drama Testament of Youth 2014 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals 2021 and a voice role in the second and third films of the How to Train Your Dragon film series 20142019