Though Kit Harington recognizes the homoeroticism running through the veins of the men of the Night’s Watch, the Game of Thrones actor still insists that he’s uncomfortable with being thought of as a sex symbol. Earlier this year Harington went public with the fact that he felt as if it was “demeaning” that people paid so much attention to his body, while not necessarily respecting his talent as an actor. The public, while somewhat sympathetic to his discomfort, swiftly turned the actor’s feelings into something of a mild internet joke.

“I found it unfair, really, some of the stuff I read,” he explained, doubling down on his assertion that the attention was problematic. “I was making a point, which was that I think young men do get objectified, do get sexualized unnecessarily.”

“As a person who is definitely in that category, as a young leading man in this world, I feel I have a unique voice to talk about that. I was making a point to sort of say, ‘It just needs to be highlighted.’ With every photo shoot I ever go to, I’m told to take off my shirt, and I don’t.”

(h/t Out)