Game of Thrones Star Maisie Williams Shares Difficulties Grappling With The Dissonance Between Playing Arya Stark and Embracing Her Womanhood
Maisie Williams, the actress behind the iconic Game of Thrones character Arya Stark, has revealed that growing up as the iconic character was difficult in a variety of ways.
From the time she started her work on the show at the age of twelve, the world fell in love with Maisie Williams– specifically with her powerhouse character Arya Stark. But spending an informative part of her youth playing a very specific character that everyone adored was challenging for Williams when navigating who she was becoming in the throws of her life off of the screen.
In a recent interview with British GQ, the actress shared that as she started to get older, she felt a marked and ever-increasing distance from the character she was playing. After being handed a bra for the first time in the costume trailer, the actress reflected to GQ:
"I think that when I started becoming a woman, I resented Arya because I couldn't express who I was becoming...And then I also resented my body, because it wasn't aligned with the piece of me that the world celebrated."
Williams then went on to explain how, in the days after the iconic series finally wrapped its final season, she was caught at the intersection between confusion - not crisis - and exploration.
"I was rejecting a lot of the pieces of me and my image that I'd been so well known for...It was more that I needed to express myself....I think that sometimes other people need a helping hand to see that you're a different person...and I don't resent that...I quickly realised that it was more linked to the shame of being in one good thing and never doing anything again, rather than actually asking myself the question: what do you want to do now?"
The star looks back fondly on her time on Game of Thrones, though she attests she does not miss it.
"I don't think it's healthy [to miss it], because I loved it...I look at it so fondly, and I look at it with such pride. But why would I want to make myself feel sad about the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I don't want to associate that with feelings of pain."
We are so glad that this incredible performer has come into her own. We cannot wait to see what is next.
