Listen up, wannabe actors. Kit Harington has just revealed the secret to nailing an audition: a black eye, a bruised ego, and probably some hamburger breath.

The actor told W Magazine that the night before his Game of Thrones audition, he took “this girl [he] was sort of dating at the time” to the fine-dining establishment McDonalds, where it was so busy that they had to share a table with another couple.

“He started being really rude to the girl I was with, calling her names ... Then he called her something like ‘ugly pig’ or something worse,” Harington says of the unruly dude they sat next to. He couldn’t let that slide, so he “called him up for a fight," which turned out to be a terrible idea.

“And I got battered,” Harington said, meaning that when he showed up for his audition as Jon Snow the next morning, he looked the part of a brooding fella who’s been through some shit of his own. “I think that man who punched me in the face may have helped me get the job, so if you’re watching, thank you,” he added.

Hear Harington’s entire account of the incident below, as well as some musings about what it was like being resurrected from the dead (spoiler: he just kept falling asleep).