Kit Harington Shares Twisted Theory About Charles Dickens & ‘A Tale of Two Cities’

Amanda BellMon, August 31, 2026 at 6:34 PM UTC

0

Kit Harington as Sydney Carton - MGM+

A Tale of Two Cities is coming to the screen anew — this time, as a four-part miniseries airing on MGM+ starting Sunday (September 6). The classic Charles Dickens story takes place during the French Revolution and, as the title indicates, the setting hops back and forth between the two cities of Paris and London, with a fateful love triangle at the center of it all.

In the adaptation, Game of Thrones and Industry star Kit Harington stars as Sydney Carton, the cynical and self-destructive lawyer who reluctantly defends his French look-alike, Charles Darnay (François Civil), after he is accused of treason, as a favor to Lucie Manette (Mirren Mack).

For Harington, the chance to portray such a boorish beau was a true treat, and the actor developed a keen theory about the author’s creation of the character’s persona while portraying him at his most wretched points.

“[It was] super fun. I love characters like Sydney, and I think he’s a kind of classic romantic antihero — and maybe one of the originals. He’s whip smart, and he’s two steps ahead of everyone in the room, and he’s two steps ahead of the audience, and I think that makes the world very difficult for him to deal with. He deals with that through substance abuse, drinking, and this anarchic kind of desperate depression. This story captures him at glimpses of times when this amazing presence comes into his life that gives him hope,” the actor explained. “I think that’s a wonderful canvas to paint as an actor.”

MGM+

Advertisement

Harington went on to add, “I share a lot with him — not his smarts, he’s much cleverer than me, but his cynical outlook on the world, I completely understand, and that little devil on his shoulder… I love that. I really know what that person is in me, and that’s what I’ve always, since reading this book, way back at A level — which for us is 17, 18 [years old]… I just thought, ‘What a wonderful creation.'”

Related

'A Tale of Two Cities': Cast, Plot, Premiere Date, Photos, and More Details

The actor then explained his theory on Dickens’ deeply personal connection to the character of Sydney Carton. “When researching this, we read that Dickens essentially had this affair with a younger woman at the time he wrote this, and my personal belief is that the story is exploring these two sides of himself: the idealized version who’s French and better-looking and tall and wonderful and heroic, and then this shameful, guilty side, which is him, Charles Dickens in Sydney, and then he has this perfect woman that they’re both in love with, and it’s him trying to reckon with this affair he’s having. I think that’s just really interesting.”

A Tale of Two Cities, Series Premiere, September 6, MGM+

Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”