Game of Thrones Star Maisie Williams Opens Up About Psychological Impact of Being Cast at Age 12

This year marks five years since Game of Thrones came to an end on HBO, and some of the show's cast has been reflecting on their time making the series. The experience was harder on some than others, especially those who were cast as children. Maisie Williams, who was cast as Arya Stark when she was 12 years old, recently opened up about working as a child actor and the toll it can take on one's mental health. 

"I was so lost for so long and I knew that I was, and when I couldn't pin down what I felt my identity was within that, it brought me a lot of discomfort," William recently told The Times of London. "Now I feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin. It's hard to even put myself back there and talk about how tough it was just because I think it's done."

"I really dig within myself to try and bring out something that I feel would be really useful," Williams added, explaining that she has tried to make herself available to other child actors looking for advice. "I've no idea if I ever have, but I know that at least they could text me or call me."

During the interview, Williams also revealed she learned the most from watching Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) work on Game of Thrones.

"Charles Dance was a standout for Game of Thrones. I admired watching him rehearse, and the things that he and the director talked about."

Will Kit Harington Play Jon Snow Again?

The first official Game of Thrones fan convention took place in Los Angeles in 2022 with many stars from both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon in attendance. During the event, HBO released a recap video about Jon Snow while Harington was attending the con, which had many fans thinking he would officially announce the spinoff series that was revealed to be in development in 2021. While Harington did not announce his return to the role, his comments about the series finale raised some eyebrows.

"I think if you asked him, he would've felt he got off lightly. At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he's preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He's done," said Harington (via EW). "The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse.

"He's gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly, and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that, that's interesting," Harington added. "So I think where we leave him at the end of the show, there's always this feeling of like... I think we wanted some kind of little smile that things are okay. He's not okay," he said.

Harington said back in 2020 that he was done playing characters like Jon Snow. In an interview with The Telegraph (via Uproxx), Harington spoke about how he feels that men have an emotional "blockage" which isn't something he wants to keep portraying in his work.

"I feel that emotionally men have a problem, a blockage, and that blockage has come from the Second World War, passed down from grandfather to father to son," Harington said. "We do not speak about how we feel because it shows weakness, because it is not masculine. Having portrayed a man who was silent, who was heroic, I feel going forward that is a role I don't want to play anymore. It is not a masculine role that the world needs to see much more of."

Game of Thrones is currently available to stream on Max.