Maisie Williams reveals the Game of Thrones finale twist that stunned her and Kit Harrington
Everyone expected Jon Snow to kill The Night King, not Arya, including the cast.
Maisie Williams has explained how perplexed her Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington was to discover that her character Arya Stark was going to kill The Night King and not Jon Snow in the final series.
Williams told The Hollywood Reporter that the curveball not only threw the audience, but surprised herself and Harrington initially.
She said: "He expected it to go that way, too, and he even said, 'It was going to go that way. Someone told me in season three that I was going to kill The Night King.' And then, he read the script, and it was Arya the whole time. (Laughs.)"
Williams added that it "would’ve been too obvious" to be Jon Snow.
"I’m glad that it was Arya, honestly," she said. "I think I had the best storyline of the final season."
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Williams has been talking about her first post-Game of Thrones role, in the indie home invasion horror film, The Owners. The premise is familiar: some low-level crooks try to rob a house, but things go wrong quickly.
She loved that the experience was so different from Thrones. "Although being part of a psychological thriller or a horror is always somewhat hyperreal, I did like that we didn’t have any green screens. A lot of the emotions are a lot more realistic and a lot more pared back."
The Owners director Julius Berg said the process of casting Williams was simple. It started with casting director Daniel Hubbard.
"He has a great connection with many amazing actors from everywhere, especially Maisie Williams," he said. "So we sent the script to her manager in London, and her manager liked it a lot. Then, she sent it to Maisie, and she also liked it a lot. So we had a Skype call with Maisie, and I had a great connection with her. It was very easy. After that, we started shooting. It was as simple as that."
Williams had no hesitation going indie after the massive HBO studio production behind Game of Thrones and she felt it was the trajectory two of her heroes followed.
“I look up to Robert Pattinson, and I look up to Kristen Stewart. I love what they did,” she said. “I’ve really just been trying to understand what she did so well, the decisions she made and how that really affected the longevity of her career. So, yeah, I definitely do look up to the both of them, and yeah, I will be taking notes and following in their footsteps.”
Williams currently also appears in BAFTA TV Award winner Sian Clifford's Two Weeks to Live, screening now on Sky one.
The Owners is in selected cinemas now and can be streamed online.
If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV guide.
