COAT JIL SANDER
RINGS COACH & EDDIE BORGO
Her audition tape revealed a 12-year-old girl, cropped brunette hair framing her oval face, with that “it” factor that embodied Arya’s mischievousness and bravery. For Weiss and Benioff, she was their Arya. But for Maisie Williams, she just hoped to finally afford a new laptop. Game of Thrones debuted in 2011—two days after her 14th birthday—and met with near-universal acclaim thanks to the ambitious scope of the series, rich characters, sprawling locales and its sheer unpredictability (well, for those that hadn’t read the books). As a novice in the entertainment business, Williams was initially baffled by the success. She recalls sitting in interviews with her older cast members, who would praise the show’s writing. But it’s not that she didn’t think the writing was good, she was just in a stage where her own tastes were being informed. In the same way kids who grow up listening to seminal bands and artists instead of spoon-fed bubblegum pop usually turn out much more culturally savvy than their peers, Williams’s early exposure to GoT’s Emmy-winning scripts informed her level of discernment for future projects.
“For a long time I was just so in love with Arya. I just thought she’s the best thing ever and that no one else could touch her, and she was just incredible.” In retrospect, she feels a little spoiled having had the privilege of working on such a game-changing show, and now she admits it’s a bit difficult for her to find scripts of the same caliber. It’s through this same adult lens that Williams can reinterpret not only her approach to acting, but is also able to reconcile the lingering connection she has to the youngest Stark daughter. “For a long time I was just so in love with Arya. I just thought she’s the best thing ever and that no one else could touch her, and she was just incredible,” she says. But as she grew up—both as a young adult and an actress—she began to explore a more vivid emotional range, and through that developed an appreciation for her on-screen older sister, Sansa Stark. Williams is quick to clarify that she wouldn’t have done as admirable a job portraying the scarlet-haired Sansa as her castmate, Sophie Turner. However, she relishes finding a similar character in her post-Game of Thrones career that has to endure similar obstacles. Whereas Sansa and Arya Stark’s physical and emotional journeys are fictionalized, Maisie Williams saw the show’s success take a real toll on her real life. Specifically, online bullying and real-life bullying from her school peers sullied what should have been some of the happiest moments of her young life. She was particularly brutalized by the anonymous app, Formspring. Williams wasn’t the only one experiencing the vitriol. Prior to her own experience, Formspring taunts notably led to two suicides in New York City and another in England in which a girl become so overwhelmed that she stepped in front of a train rather than continue experiencing the torment. As Game of Thrones rose in popularity, Williams ultimately opted for tutors in lieu of school and eliminated parts of her social media footprint to avoid any lingering problems.