Kit Harington: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Battle Was ‘Most Intense Thing I’ve Ever Done On The Show’

Sunday night’s “Game of Thrones” raised the bar for TV fight sequences with an epic supernatural battle between the living and the undead.

The fight between the Wildings, Lord Commander Jon Snow and the White Walkers and wights took weeks to do “GoT” star Kit Harington told Access Hollywood Live’s Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Monday.

“That was a month of shooting and it added up to 20 minutes on camera. … If you can imagine how much we had to get through with the big CGI elements, with the massive amounts of fight scenes to choreograph. It was the most intense thing I’ve ever done on the show,” the actor said.

PHOTOS: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 5, Episode 8 — Scenes From ‘Hardhome’

Being a part of the cable drama’s biggest series has helped pave the way to other roles for Harington, including playing historical figure Roland Leighton – a World War II soldier and poet — in the new film “Testament of Youth.”

“It opens up doorways to play other parts, to be offered other roles, like the one in ‘Testament of Youth,'” Harington told Bush and Hoover. “It’s wonderful. It changed my life immeasurably since not being part of ‘Game of Thrones.’ ‘Game of Thrones’ became this kind of goliath show. I don’t think any of us were expecting it. I don’t think any of us expected the kind of notoriety or recognizability that went with it.”

Since he is part of a show known for surprising viewers with shocking deaths over its five seasons, Hoover asked Harington if he’s worried when he gets his scripts.

“Yeah, I think everyone starts turning the pages rather quickly,” Harington said.

“Testament of Youth” was filmed during Harington’s downtime between Seasons 4 and 5 of “Thrones,” but it didn’t represent a break in the intensity of  material for the British actor.

“Filming’s never — I mean, it can, on the surface, look quite sort of relaxing and easy in a sort of romantic period piece like this, but I had to shoot this out in three weeks, so it was 17 hour days, you know, six days a week,” Harington said. “That can get quite intense as well. … There were bits…depicting the first World War that were uncomfortable to shoot. But yeah, this probably wasn’t quite as intense as ‘Thrones’ can be.”

Due out on June 5, “Testament of Youth” pairs Harington on screen with Alicia Vikander, who plays Vera Brittain, the real-life author of the book of the same name.

Knowing he was playing a real person put a weight on Harington’s shoulders.

“I never played anyone — a real historical figure before, especially one comparatively, so recentl — sort of 100 years ago,” he said.

Brittain’s book also helped inform Harington’s performance.

“I had the book with me the whole time, so it was great as a research tool and it was a wonderful thing to be able to do, but there was a feeling of responsibility behind it,” he said.

— Jolie Lash