M aisie Williams, the up-and-coming

child actor who’s name you’ll all

know in a few year’s time; The

Game of Thrones actress who only

began her acting career in 2011 is

already on her way to stardom.

Maisie Williams was born on the 15th April 1997 and

lives in the small countryside village of Clutton, in

the South-West of England. She went to Midsomer

Norton School and, in her spare time, Susan Hill

School of Dancing and BDC (Bath Dance College).

Maisie has been an avid dancer for over four years

now; practising herself with Musical Theatre, Bal-

let, Pointe, Tap, Street, Freestyle...The list goes on.

This dedicated actress’ first role was Arya in the

Game of Thrones, so dedicated, in fact, that she’s

even trained herself to use her left hand instead of

her right just to be more like her character. It

makes you wonder if she’ll ever stop.

Of course, she has no intention to as “the Game of

Thrones” isn’t the only project she’s been working

on. In 2012, she’s worked on “The Secret of Crickley

Hall” (as Loren Caleigh), “Funny or Die” (as Scrag-

gly Sue), and in 2013, so far, she’s working on

“Gold” (as Abbie, this is currently underway),

“Corvidae” (as Jay) and “Heatstroke” (as Jo O’Mal-

ley).

At the young age of 15, Williams is the youngest

actress ever to win the Best Supporting Actress Cat-

egory and considers Dakota Fanning to be her idol.

That’s a lot of information for a child actress who’s

only been acting for around two years, I hear you

say. Well, when we were lucky enough to meet her

and interview her, she chatted to us like we were her

long-lost best friends and had no worries about tell-

ing us everything we wanted to know. Yes, there’s

more! But that’s the good part, or what would be the

point?

This actress has wanted to be a dancer all her life

and said that “I didn’t really want to do acting; I

always wanted to be a dancer but I just fell into

acting and started doing that instead.” She thought

for a moment and added, “I never really dreamed of

being an actress; I just kind of accidentally hap-

pened to do it”. If only that happened to everyone, I

thought to myself. But when you’re as talented and

as dedicated as she is, I thought that maybe some

people deserve this a little more that other people

do. I began to wonder how that happened, and the I

remember learning that she had gone to audition

because her dance teacher had encouraged her to. I

felt that I had to expand on this point because it’s

not every day that you get to meet someone like

Maisie.

“How did you feel when you got the role of Arya?” I

asked.

She took a second to reply, but what she said sound-

ed honest. “Really really shocked” She began, smil-

ing and looking around. “I come from a little village

called Clutton and just live with my mum and broth-

er and sister in a tiny little house and then I was go-

ing to be in this big TV series, you know, I never

really thought of acting as I said and yeah, it really

took me by surprise”. No kidding. I’m sure anybody

would be if they learned they had a leading role in a

huge TV series! “I obviously knew that I was audi-

tioning for it and everything but it was a possibility

but I never really thought that something like that

would ever happen to me. I always thought that I

was an average kid like you guys!”

“And how did you feel when you won the Best Sup-

porting Actress Award?” I carried on.

She paused for a while, and said, “I can’t remember

which award that was, it was one of the ones on the

internet and it says it on my IMDB…” I had no idea

that you could win awards and not know about it.

“Really really grateful that what I was doing people

enjoyed and stuff, I just fell into it… and then peo-

ple were liking what I was doing and enjoying what

I was trying to do!” She laughed slightly. “So yeah,

it was kind of a shock but nice to get the recogni-

tion and stuff that people were enjoying what I was

doing.” I suppose that’s a good feeling to have. At

least she has the confidence, and she certainly looks

like she does, to do it.

The stunning 16 year old strode into the Headliner office prepared to answer

all our questions with a biscuit in hand. Despite only being young she had a

mature mind and attitude but still felt like a little girl stuck in Neverland.

W e asked Maisie how people have reacted to

her fame at such young age and how it has

changed her life. “When I first started it all,

when I got the opportunity to do it, [my

family] was really supportive. I’ve always wanted to be a

performer so when I finally did all this [they really supported

me]. Now, me and my mum go away, we spend a lot of times

away from home in different countries. I am the youngest of

my family so that’s okay there are no little babies at home or

anything. Evidently, my mum does spend more time with me

than she does with her other kids so that does cause a few

arguments with my brother and sister. They are still very

supportive of me but it’s just different from what it used to

be. We used to be together all at home together all the time

but now we are kind of separate a lot, sometimes I don’t see

my family for a long time so it’s nice to just come back

together again when I am home.”

‘’I still have to get my GCSEs’’

[My life has really changed] I dropped out of school .I do go to

Wrislington School now but I’m not a full time student

anymore so that’s changed a lot. It’s really stressful, I still

have to get my GCSEs, I can’t go through life with no

qualifications so it’s all kind of changing. I am finding it okay,

there are people around all the time and they are supportive

and help me out whenever they can so it’s going well still.”

Maisie says “[Although] some days, it’s really stressful and I

wonder what it would be like to be a normal kid again. I’ve

worked a long time to get to this and I’ve had such a great

opportunities. It would just be a waste to just throw it all

away so I am really happy with my life now and I wouldn’t

ever change. Although I have different friends than I had then

they were always nice and supportive. There just people I’m

not that close to anymore, but [then] some people have just

stayed with me. I don’t see people as much as I used to and

some people can handle that better than others. My best

friend, sometimes I won’t see her in 6 months and then it’s a

bit weird to call them your best friend [because] you haven’t

gossiped in ages and you don’t know much about them

anymore. That’s what I miss the most.”

“...it gets a bit lonely”

Then we asked if Maisie had made any on set friends she

explained “Yeah, lots, there’s two kids that are also in the

show, Games of Thrones, with me and they’re a similar age

and we have a lot in common. Well this all started when we

were quite young, we have a lot to relate to in each other. So

quite a lot of people on set and it’s a nice sort of have that

other friendship to go back to and to have a new set of

friends otherwise it gets a bit lonely.”

“My celebrity crush is Andrew Garfield who plays the

amazing Spiderman and he is really really good looking and

23

Headline MAKER

“My celebrity crush is Andrew Garfield

who plays the amazing Spiderman and

he is really really good looking and he is

British. One day maybe I’ll meet him. Still

waiting for that one but definitely

Andrew Garfield. [And my] inner lesbian,

[would be] Emma Stone and that is his

girlfriend so there you go. They are like

the best celebrity couple ever I would

say.”

“When discussing embarrassing

moments Maisie has to think a while for

a specific moment but finally says “I

don’t know, sometimes there’s some

quite embarrassing things that happen.

On set there is this one scene where I’m

supposed to just spill a jug of water that I

have, I’m supposed to spill it just a little

bit and I literally just like poured it all

over the whole table and the actors

stood around me were soaking wet . I

was like ‘this is not happening’. [That

was] really embarrassing because it was

supposed to be just like ‘oops’ but it was

like ‘OOPS’!

‘’Sometimes you mess up

your lines’’

Sometimes you mess up your lines and

[also] sometimes if you’re talking a lot, I

might end up doing this in the interview,

you forget to breathe and then you just

have thing of where you’re talking but no

noise comes out. That happens quite a

lot . But you don’t quite relies its

happened and then everyone says ‘why

did you just stop talking in the middle?’

and you're like ‘oh I forgot to breathe’.

So that sometimes happens which is sort

of embarrassing. Off set, It [would be]

once when I was about 6 or 7 and we

went to Victoria Park and was wearing a

skirt before we left. So I was at home I

put a skirt on and I was out in the garden

for a bit and I was thought ‘oh it’s a bit

chilly’ so I went inside and I put some

trousers on, I thought that would be a bit

better. So we went all the way to Victoria

Park and I was just chilling in the park

and having a great time, I was really

little , then I realised that I’d kept my

skirt on with my trousers and that was

really embarrassing.”

For a 16 year old Maisie dressed like a

woman, the Headliner team asked her

where have favourite places to shop are.

“I shop a lot at Topshop, but it’s a bit

expensive so sometimes you go in there

and there is something that you really

want so you get that. I like a lot of stuff

in Urban Outfitters as well that’s also

good. It’s good for just little one of

pieces instead of like everyday shopping

for all your clothes there. If you find a

nice jacket that you like or a belt or some

shoes you get it. So it’s good for

individual pieces. Although I’ve just had

my birthday so I haven’t really bought

much recently because you know waiting

for my presents and things.”

‘’I’m obsessed with

Spiderman’’

When asked for personal inside

information just for us she comes out

with “I’m obsessed with Spiderman, like I

really like Spiderman. I have my own

Spiderman suit. I have the outfit and a

hat and gloves. Yes [I love] Spiderman.

Then I have a tortoise as well called

Barney and so tortoises are my favourite

animal, so I have a bit of an obsessions

with tortoises as well.”

June 2013 HEADLINER 24

The many faces of Maisie Williams.

So in Game of Thrones, what kind of

character is Arya?

“Uh, she’s a bit of a tomboy, she’s not afraid to tell people what she thinks of them, if there’s something that’s going on in her head, then she’ll come out and say it and is kind of upfront about everything, which is, I think why she’s so likeable really, because I think everyone likes it when someone’s upfront and just insults

someone, you know, to their face, I think that’s quite funny.”

With all the big changes that have happened to Arya throughout the series, do you reckon they have affected her quite a lot?

“Yeah, I think from the girl who we first picked up on from series 1, she’s changed a lot, and uh, grown up very quickly, and I think this season, season 3, she continues to change, I think, yeah, she’s seen a lot

for someone her age; she saw her father being killed, so yeah, there’s a lot that has happened, and yeah, it’s definitely changed her.”

We all know that Joffrey Baratheon is quite a bad guy from what I’ve seen in game of thrones, but what does Arya actually think of him?

“Um, if she had it her way, he’d be dead already, I think, and she’s kind of realised now that she has the power to do that to people, to kill people, so that kind of makes her more hungry for it, you know, to want to kill him and get revenge on her father and whatever. So yeah, I think she hates him worst of all, really. Everyone kind of hates him because he’s this mean person, but he’s actually done something to hurt her, and that the kind of different relationship that they have compare to other characters.”

So about the characters in the first series; quite a few big changes have happened to them, so are we going to see some more big changes throughout the new series?

“Yeah, I think, you know, different powers and stuff and people, different, maybe relationships and things and trusting the wrong or the right people or whatever. So I think a lot of that affects

who the characters become ultimately in the end. Um, so yeah, I think there’s gonna be more of that this year.”

So how were you actually able to get a role in game of thrones, how did you actually get into the whole series?

“Um, I’ve always wanted to be a dancer, and I did a talent show just to try and show people what I could do and whatever, and then I met a lady called Louise Johnson who later became my agent, and she got me auditions for films and things like that, and she got me an audition for Game of Thrones, so yeah it was kind of really accidental and I didn’t, you know, I never really set out to be and actress so it just happened, really.”

Can you describe and average day on set?

“Uh, you get picked up in the morning, really really early. Sometimes, like 5 o’clock, so it’s horrible. Then, you get to your trailer and someone asks you if you’d like some breakfast, and then you either get it or they go get it, it depends on how much time there is. And then you go into the hair and make-up truck and they make you look really greasy and horrible, and give you horrible hair and whatever, depending on which character you are. Sometimes that can take a long time for the prosthetic make-up or the big wigs that you’re wearing. So yeah, then you go back to your trailer and you get changed and put on your costume, and then you get taken down to set and you have a rehearsal. Then you start shooting and midday, you have lunch, like a running lunch, so between takes you’ll go and eat food, and then you’ll come back and you’ll finish the scene, sometimes move on to another scene. And then you’ll wrap all that up about 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock and then you’ll go back home, have food and go to bed, and then it starts again the next day.”

The “Cat of the Canals” exclusively speaks to ‘YOUR FILM’!Our interviewers managed to get an interview with Maisie Williams, actress of the well-known character in ‘Game of Thrones’, “Arya Stark”. Here’s what she had to say:

5

Does any of the actual cast members relate to their characters at all in Game of Thrones?

“I think I relate to my character quite a lot, in the tomboy sense and whatever; I always used to play with my brother and sisters and, you know, I wasn’t really a violent child but you know, I wasn’t into dolls or things like that so yeah, that’s the similarity I have with Arya, but yeah I think it kind of varies for different people, I know that Jack Gleeson who plays Joffrey Baratheon are nothing alike at all, he’s the nicest guy ever; he’s really really sweet, and you know you’d never catch him saying any of the language that he has on Game of Thrones, so yeah it kind of depends who you’re talking to.”

How immersed do you get when acting the scenes?

“I think when they call ‘cut’, I’m pretty good at just being Maisie again, um, just you know, have banter with different people on set and whatever, and when sometimes you do a long scene, you get quite into it and stuff, and if there’s shouting or dramatic stuff happening, you find yourself a bit like “Oh wow, this is kind of scary” or whatever. Um, so yeah, when you’re sort of in the scene, then it’s very engrossing and you’re a bit taken by it all, but then they call ‘cut’ and everything goes back to normal life, just being Maisie again, really.

When you first started, and you knew you were going to be Arya, but did you know what a big part you were getting into?

Um, not really, I knew that, all I knew was that she was a lord’s daughter, I didn’t really know anything else, and I didn’t realise my Dad was going to be Sean Bean and things like that, and the other the actors I was gonna be acting with, and I didn’t realise how big it was gonna become either. It was just the first episode I auditioned for, I didn’t even know I auditioned for a series, it was just for the first episode and then if people like it, we’ll do more. So yeah I didn’t realise how big the character was gonna become, and how many people were gonna really like her and relate to her, yeah, it was kind of a big surprise when it got bigger.”

What is the most fun you’ve had on set through acting all the scenes?

“I worked closely with a guy called Ben Hawkey who plays ‘Hot Pie’ and a guy called Joe Dempsie who plays ‘Gendry’, and I spent a lot of time with those 2 people and they’re just great fun, they’re really funny and cracking jokes all the time. So yeah, I don’t know if there’s a specific time, but you know, sometimes I’m just like belly laughing really hard and that just makes the day so much nicer, rather than being just sat in the room silently, then you got like relationship with other people and stuff, and are, yeah, really great fun to work with so it makes things a lot less stressful.”

We know you done ‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’ quite a while back, and we’re guessing ‘Game of Thrones’ has been a BIG step from that?

“Well I did that after the first series of ‘Game of Thrones’ or the second, I’m not sure, so I did that in between a couple of different series, and I worked with a couple of different people on that, but it was a lot smaller scale, it wasn’t like a long-running T.V. series it was just a little 3-parter, so it was a completely different atmosphere and you know, instead of working on 10 episodes it was just on 3, so there wasn’t quite as much to do, but it was really, really great fun, and I met some really nice people and it’s just yeah, a different experience to what ‘Game of Thrones’ is.”

So we know you like acting and dancing, but do you have any other interests beside them?

“To be honest, I spend ALOT of time dancing when I’m not acting, but I have a tortoise called Barney, and yeah, just sort of, he’s my friend, heheh. Yeah, I look after him a lot and things, and I watch a lot of T.V. and just chill with friends and stuff, so there’s not really time for much else and school and things. So when you put everything on top of each other, there’s not much time for other things. But yeah, I like swimming and ice-skating and stuff but that’s just a week-end thing, I don’t really have many other hobbies.”

Final question, what should we expect from the show and Arya in the future?

“Ooooh, I can’t answer this! You know, I can’t tell you any spoilers but yeah, I think this series is a really fun series, it was my favourite one to do so far, I don’t know if you watch the show, but yeah, there’s a lot that happens this year, and she changes a lot and grows up.”

” exclusively speaks to ‘YOUR FILM’!

In this picture, we see Maisie as Arya. Near the end of season 1, Arya must be disguised as a boy in order to go back to her home of ‘Winterfell’. This resulted in a rather drastic hair cut for Maisie!

6

Ok, so, how has life changed since

you’ve been on the ‘Game Of

Thrones’?

‘I get recognized in the street quite a lot

and things like that, so, I have to be

kind of on my best behaviour wherever I

go because someone might see you or

recognise you. So, yeah I kind of don’t

make a prat of myself as much as I used

to just in case someone is watching, and

things like that. Just you know, you got-

ta be aware of that.’

What’s your favourite thing about be-

ing Arya Stark?

‘I think its just the likeability of the char-

acter really, because she has some really

great lines and some fantastic scenes

that she’s in, it kind of makes the whole

day you know a lot more enjoyable and

a lot of good feed back from people on

the internet and whatever because

she’s such a likeable character, so yeah

its sort of that element of it.’

What are your plans for the future?

‘Well I’m gonna move out soon so we

are gonna go look at a flat tomorrow in

Bath and then I’ll you know move there

hopefully, and then when I finish college

I will go to London and live there and do

more acting and dancing and more per-

forming. It’s kind of hard to predict

what’s going to happen, there’s different

things happening all the time, I didn’t

even think I was gonna be doing Game

of Thrones. Once you’ve left school,

there’s a lot less stress of not having to

be different places, and you can go out

and do whatever, and take a day out to

here and then maybe you’ll meet some-

one you know that could change your

life or whatever. So you know, there’s a

lot less rules to abide by.’

Have you ever done a cringey scene?

‘No, I haven’t. I’ve been really lucky, out

of all the scenes that I have done, I’ve

been just talking with someone. Actually,

there was one scene, where I’m sup-

posed to have a crush on this guy and

then he got his top off, and it wasn’t like

cringey, but it was a bit like…yeah. *pulls

a face* But yeah, that wasn’t cringey,

but it was a bit embarrassing because

you’re supposed to like be in love, and

there is loads of other people there, and

men are looking at you like ugh, you’re

such a girl and it’s a bit embarrassing.’

Has it changed your relationships with

your friends or your family?

‘Yeah I guess so, like my friends and

stuff, I’ve kind of got a different circles of

friends now. Some people, I don’t know

if it was jealousy, or they didn’t… I don’t

know really, but I had a really hard time

at school sometimes, but then some girls

have been really lovely and stuck by me

and, there’s obviously the little fallings

out you have in between. But that was

nothing to do with the series or anything.

Just sometimes, there was just the little

comments and stuff that are like ‘Oh,

well that wasn’t necessary’ . So, some-

times, it was a bit like, ‘ok?’. But all in all,

it’s been fantastic, and all the people

have always been really supportive of

me, and you know the stuff that I’ve

done, and you know my family are really

happy for me and stuff. And I’m still the

same person, I’m still Maisie, who’s crazy

about tortoises and kind of strange. And

you know, I just think that you I go off

and do the other side of my life where I

do interviews and I’m on the red carpet

and whatever. That’s just another side to

my life, but when I come home I’m just

Maisie again and there’ s nothing else.’

litter talk to Maisie Williams exclusively about her

life and how she made it onto such a popular TV

show.

Maisie GLITTERS up!!

‘I get recognized in the street quite a lot’

Glitter interview

June/July Page 11

‘I get recognized in the street quite a lot’

‘I had a really hard time at school sometimes’

June/July Page 12

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How has life changed since you’ve

been on the Game Of Thrones?

Um, I get recognized in the street

quite a lot and things like that, so, I

have to be kind of um on my best be-

haviour wherever I go because some-

one might see you or recognise you.

So, yeah um I kind of don’t make a

prat of myself as much as I used to

just in case someone is watching,

um and things like that. Just you

know; you gotta be aware of that.

What’s your favourite thing

about being Arya Stark?

Um, I think its just like the likeability

of the character really, because she

has some really great lines and

some you know fantastic scenes

that she’s in, um it kind of makes

the whole day you know a lot more

enjoyable and you know a lot of you

know good feed back from people

on the internet and whatever be-

cause she’s such a likeable charac-

ter, so yeah its sort of that element

of it.

What are your plans for the fu-

ture?

Um, well I’m gonna move out soon so

we are gonna go look at a flat tomor-

row in Bath and then I’ll um you know

move there hopefully, and then when

I finish college I will go to London and

live there and do more acting and

dancing and more performing. It’s kind

of hard to predict what’s going to hap-

pen, there’s different things happening

all the time, I didn’t even think I was

gonna be doing Game of Thrones, and

so you know. Once you’ve left school,

there’s a lot less stress of not having

to be different places, and you can go

out and do whatever and you know,

take a day out to here and then may-

be you’ll meet someone you know that

could change your life or whatever. So

you know, there’s a lot less rules to

abide by.

Have you ever done a cringey

scene?

No, I haven’t. I’ve been really lucky,

out of all the scenes that I have done,

I’ve been, um, just you know talking

with someone. Actually, there was one

scene, um, where I’m supposed to

have a crush on this guy and then he

got his top off, and it wasn’t like

cringey, but it was a bit like…yeah.

*pulls a face* But yeah, that wasn’t

cringey, but it was a bit embarrassing

because you’re supposed to like you’re

in love, and there is like loads of other

people there, and men are looking at

you like ugh, you’re such a girl and it’s

a bit embarrassing.

Has it changed your relationships

with your friends or your family?

Um, yeah I guess so, like um, my

friends and stuff, um, I’ve kind of got

a different circles of friends now. Um,

some people, um, I don’t know if it

was jealousy, or they didn’t… I don’t

know really, but I had a really hard

time at school sometimes, but then

some girls have been really lovely and

stuck by me and you know, there’s

obviously the little fallings out you

have in between.

But that was nothing to do with the

series or anything. Just sometimes,

there was just the little comments and

stuff that are like ‘Oh, well that wasn’t

necessary’ . So you know sometimes,

it was a bit like, ‘ok’. But all in all, it’s

been fantastic, and all the people have

always been really supportive of me,

and you know the stuff that I’ve done,

and you know my family are really

happy for me and stuff. And I’m still

the same person, I’m still Maisie,

who’s crazy about horses and kind of

strange. And you know, I just think

that you I go off and do the other side

of my life where I do interviews and

I’m on the red carpet and whatever.

That’s just another side to my life, but

when I come home I’m just Maisie

again and there’ s nothing else.

“That’s just another side to my life”

because you’re supposed to like you’re

in love, and there is like loads of other

you like ugh, you’re such a girl and it’s

Has it changed your relationships

friends and stuff, um, I’ve kind of got

a different circles of friends now. Um,

some girls have been really lovely and

there was just the little comments and

stuff that are like ‘Oh, well that wasn’t

necessary’ . So you know sometimes,

been fantastic, and all the people have

and you know the stuff that I’ve done,

that you I go off and do the other side

That’s just another side to my life, but

From a little village in a little house Maisie Williams is now

walking on red carpets and getting noticed on the streets.

Maisie has been in all 3 series of the massive TV series

Game Of Thrones and is also signed up for series 4, we can

not wait!! She always wanted to be a professional dancer and

just fell into acting ‘I never really dreamed of being an actress I

just kind of accidentally happened to do it.’ The role she plays in

Game of Thrones is a feisty mischievous girl who's doesn't take

a telling off from anyone Because she's a young actor she

has to weigh out school and her amazing acting career and

the same time. ‘I used to not handle it very well; I used to do

school and acting at the same time and try to, you know, “mish”

the two together which was really hard and I struggled with that

a lot so then I left school and I was home-schooled for a while

and that was so much easier it was just, your own terms, like

today I have the time to do 3 hours of work so I will and yester-

day I only had the time to do half an hour and I can do a full

day or… so it just depends whether that’s ok when you

don’t have to report to anyone or give your homework in

you can do it all in your spare time.’ What sixteen year old

wouldn't be jealous of her? She gets to work with so

many inspirational people which she can learn so much

from. ‘Yeah, that’s really one of things that surprised

me I don’t really know what I expected but everyone’s

so nice and you know I don’t really know why I thought

they’d be horrible but you know, I didn’t expect to

make so many friends on set and get on with people so

well and yeah they’re all really supportive as well and

being a child actor sometimes people don’t take you as

seriously because you know we haven’t been doing it as

long but you know, people are always very aware that

I’ve got one of the bigger parts in the show so people

are always very respective of that as well You know I

have worked hard too to get to where I am and I think

sometimes it’s nice for people to appreciate that and

don’t just think “oh you’re a child actor so you don’t

really know what you’re doing” and stuff.’

She didn't just have to battle with school for her acting

but she also was told to cut her hair AHHH! That is a

big commitment.Every one had that childhood

dream of becoming a famous actress or actor but for

maisie that really did come true but there is no doubt

she had to work to get to where she is today. ‘Dance. I

wanted to be a dancer I’ve always wanted to be a

dancer and then I sort of got to about 10, 11 and I just

like, realised that I can’t do anything you want to do

when you’re older Lots of people say “oh just keep

dreaming” you know “if you believe in yourself you

can achieve anything” and I think that’s a really lovely

thought but personally i don’t think that .

think you make your own destiny and if you want to do

something you have to work at it for, you know, until

you get there and I don’t think that anyone’s ever going

to do that for you. And yeah, I kind of fell into this but

I’ve worked hard along the way as well and I think I got

to that age and I thought ok if I want to be a dancer I

have to get on and do this because no one’s just going to

pick me up and say “oh ok you want to be a dancer come

with me” and that’s when I realised that you know the

Game of Thrones and stuff if I could really work hard and

do this and then I did so yeah it kind of all happened so

quickly.’Not all this acting comes naturally maisie had to

train her left hand because that was the hand ayra used

in the book. ‘trying to make things look natural with your

left hand is a lot more difficult and yeah, it’s all very well

sword-fighting with your left hand but you’ve got to do

everything else with it as well.’

I always thought I was an average

kid like you guys

I didn’t really want to do acting; I always wanted to be a dancer but I just fell into acting and

started doing that instead’ said the star maisie Williams. She didn’t even want to be an

actor? And now she is one of a kind. Must be an miracle for her. ‘I never really dreamed of

being an actress I just kind of accidentally happened to do it’ well wouldn’t everyone want

to do that, just accidently fall into your dream job, it seems to me that Maisie Williams had

the life of a feather drifting from a childhood to a job of a lifetime. The first step towards

becoming a actor or actress can be really hard just like applying for a first job , Maisie could

relate to this - ‘Really really shocked, I come from a little village called Clutton and just live

with my mum and brother and sister in a tiny little house and then I was going to be in this

big TV series, you know, I never really thought of acting as I said and yeah, it really took me

by surprise’

From a little village from Clutton to the red carpets of the uk Maisie really shows her audience that she is committed to anything that may come her way in the

future. She talks again to the crew about just being ‘normal’ ‘ Really really shocked, I come from a little village called Clutton and just live with my mum and

brother and sister in a tiny little house and then I was going to be in this big TV series, you know, I never really thought of acting as I said and yeah, it really took

me by surprise, ‘I always thought I was an average kid like you guys’

getting the role of Arya must of gave her an

extra boost into acting and to get to know

he world of fame, then moving on the the

red carpet where she wears Dior dresses

and Marc Jacob jewellery .

Wearing a designer dress from Valetino,

and 6 inch heels , Maisie took the Best

supporting actress award. ‘ I was really

really grateful that what I was doing people

enjoyed and stuff, I just fell into it and never

really wanted to do it and then people were

liking what I was doing and enjoying what I

was trying to do, So yeah, it was kind of a

shock but nice to get the recognition and

stuff that people were enjoying what I was

doing.’

One of Maisie’s secret tricks was learning to

use her left hand. ‘Ah, you guys picked up

on this one, you’ve got some good ques-

tions!

It was kind of, yeah my mum had read the

books and she’d said that Arya was left

handed so I thought that I’d give it a go and

at the time it sounded like a really funny

idea and now I’m like “aw why did I do that”

because every day you don’t realise on

camera if you want to take a drink you

would automatically go with your right hand

because you’re right handed and you have

to think what my character would do be-

cause they’re left handed and you find

yourself a bit shaky

So yeah, trying to make things look natural

with your left hand is a lot more difficult

and yeah, it’s all very well sword-fighting

with your left hand but you’ve got to do

everything else as well’

As you know Maisie ( known as Arya from

the game of thrones ) is a well loving char-

acter with an amazing personality, this then

has to reflect on the way she acts with her

cast members within the Game of Thrones

crew ‘Yeah, that’s really one of things that

surprised me I don’t really know what I

expected but everyone’s so nice and you

know I don’t really know why I thought

they’d be horrible but you know, I didn’t

expect to make so many friends on set and

get on with people so well and yeah they’re

all really supportive as well and being a

child actor sometimes people don’t take

you as seriously because you know we

haven’t been doing it as long’ her seriously

addictive personality reflects on her friends

and cast members, she really is a fun person

to be around. As Maisie is one of the

younger actors within the programme she

feeling that she has to show that she is

grown up for the job being as one of the

younger of the crew she quotes to us ‘But

you know, people are always very aware

that I’ve got one of the bigger parts in the

show so people are always very respective

of that as well You know I have worked hard

too to get to where I am and I think some-

times it’s nice for people to appreciate that

and don’t just think “oh you’re a child actor

so you don’t really know what you’re doing”

and stuff’ Maisie is obviously a passionate

actor and wants people to know that she is

up for anything and that she will try her

hardest to achieve her set goals for now

and the future.

The stunning 16 year old strode into the Headliner office prepared to answer

all our questions with a biscuit in hand. Despite only being young she had a

mature mind and attitude but still felt like a little girl stuck in Neverland.

W e asked Maisie how people have reacted to

her fame at such young age and how it has

changed her life. “When I first started it all,

when I got the opportunity to do it, [my

family] was really supportive. I’ve always wanted to be a

performer so when I finally did all this [they really supported

me]. Now, me and my mum go away, we spend a lot of times

away from home in different countries. I am the youngest of

my family so that’s okay there are no little babies at home or

anything. Evidently, my mum does spend more time with me

than she does with her other kids so that does cause a few

arguments with my brother and sister. They are still very

supportive of me but it’s just different from what it used to

be. We used to be together all at home together all the time

but now we are kind of separate a lot, sometimes I don’t see

my family for a long time so it’s nice to just come back

together again when I am home.”

‘’I still have to get my GCSEs’’

[My life has really changed] I dropped out of school .I do go to

Wrislington School now but I’m not a full time student

anymore so that’s changed a lot. It’s really stressful, I still

have to get my GCSEs, I can’t go through life with no

qualifications so it’s all kind of changing. I am finding it okay,

there are people around all the time and they are supportive

and help me out whenever they can so it’s going well still.”

Maisie says “[Although] some days, it’s really stressful and I

wonder what it would be like to be a normal kid again. I’ve

worked a long time to get to this and I’ve had such a great

opportunities. It would just be a waste to just throw it all

away so I am really happy with my life now and I wouldn’t

ever change. Although I have different friends than I had then

they were always nice and supportive. There just people I’m

not that close to anymore, but [then] some people have just

stayed with me. I don’t see people as much as I used to and

some people can handle that better than others. My best

friend, sometimes I won’t see her in 6 months and then it’s a

bit weird to call them your best friend [because] you haven’t

gossiped in ages and you don’t know much about them

anymore. That’s what I miss the most.”

“...it gets a bit lonely”

Then we asked if Maisie had made any on set friends she

explained “Yeah, lots, there’s two kids that are also in the

show, Games of Thrones, with me and they’re a similar age

and we have a lot in common. Well this all started when we

were quite young, we have a lot to relate to in each other. So

quite a lot of people on set and it’s a nice sort of have that

other friendship to go back to and to have a new set of

friends otherwise it gets a bit lonely.”

“My celebrity crush is Andrew Garfield who plays the

amazing Spiderman and he is really really good looking and

23

Headline MAKER

“My celebrity crush is Andrew Garfield

who plays the amazing Spiderman and

he is really really good looking and he is

British. One day maybe I’ll meet him. Still

waiting for that one but definitely

Andrew Garfield. [And my] inner lesbian,

[would be] Emma Stone and that is his

girlfriend so there you go. They are like

the best celebrity couple ever I would

say.”

“When discussing embarrassing

moments Maisie has to think a while for

a specific moment but finally says “I

don’t know, sometimes there’s some

quite embarrassing things that happen.

On set there is this one scene where I’m

supposed to just spill a jug of water that I

have, I’m supposed to spill it just a little

bit and I literally just like poured it all

over the whole table and the actors

stood around me were soaking wet . I

was like ‘this is not happening’. [That

was] really embarrassing because it was

supposed to be just like ‘oops’ but it was

like ‘OOPS’!

‘’Sometimes you mess up

your lines’’

Sometimes you mess up your lines and

[also] sometimes if you’re talking a lot, I

might end up doing this in the interview,

you forget to breathe and then you just

have thing of where you’re talking but no

noise comes out. That happens quite a

lot . But you don’t quite relies its

happened and then everyone says ‘why

did you just stop talking in the middle?’

and you're like ‘oh I forgot to breathe’.

So that sometimes happens which is sort

of embarrassing. Off set, It [would be]

once when I was about 6 or 7 and we

went to Victoria Park and was wearing a

skirt before we left. So I was at home I

put a skirt on and I was out in the garden

for a bit and I was thought ‘oh it’s a bit

chilly’ so I went inside and I put some

trousers on, I thought that would be a bit

better. So we went all the way to Victoria

Park and I was just chilling in the park

and having a great time, I was really

little , then I realised that I’d kept my

skirt on with my trousers and that was

really embarrassing.”

For a 16 year old Maisie dressed like a

woman, the Headliner team asked her

where have favourite places to shop are.

“I shop a lot at Topshop, but it’s a bit

expensive so sometimes you go in there

and there is something that you really

want so you get that. I like a lot of stuff

in Urban Outfitters as well that’s also

good. It’s good for just little one of

pieces instead of like everyday shopping

for all your clothes there. If you find a

nice jacket that you like or a belt or some

shoes you get it. So it’s good for

individual pieces. Although I’ve just had

my birthday so I haven’t really bought

much recently because you know waiting

for my presents and things.”

‘’I’m obsessed with

Spiderman’’

When asked for personal inside

information just for us she comes out

with “I’m obsessed with Spiderman, like I

really like Spiderman. I have my own

Spiderman suit. I have the outfit and a

hat and gloves. Yes [I love] Spiderman.

Then I have a tortoise as well called

Barney and so tortoises are my favourite

animal, so I have a bit of an obsessions

with tortoises as well.”

June 2013 HEADLINER 24

The many faces of Maisie Williams.

24

What would it be like to

be a normal kid again?

I ’ve always wanted to be a performer or whatever, so when I

finally sort of did all of this and I got the opportunity to do it

all, yeah my family were really supportive and really happy

for me.

“my family are still very supportive”

Me and my mum go away a lot and we spend a lot of time away

from home and in different countries and stuff, and I am the young-

est of my family so that’s okay, there’s no little babies at home or

anything, but yeah evidentially my mum does spend a lot more time

with me then she does with any of the other kids so that sometimes

makes me and my brother and sisters argue or whatever, but my

family are still very supportive, but its just a bit different, when we all

used to be at home together all the time and now we’re kind of

separate a lot. Sometimes I don’t see my family for a long time so

you know, its nice to come back together when I am home.

“I’m still a bit of a

goon and a bit weird”

Beauté- EXCLUSIVE

goon and a bit weird”

APRIL 2013 beauté 25

Magazine productions by:

Amelia Sommer

George Wright

Rebecca Hodson

Lewis Kozstan

Kerri McKenna

Rhianna Robinson

Isabelle Morgan

India Rogers

Kellan Blakeway

Amelia Newman

GCSE Media Studies 2014 at Chew Valley School

To read about the production and see behind the scenes, click here

With many thanks to Maisie Williams for giving up her time to come and see us (on her birthday!)