With each year that passes, every actor and actress attached to Game of Thrones often spend the majority of their respective press junkets fielding questions about all things Westeros. Maisie Williams is no different, and as the actress does the rounds to promote her role in upcoming Netflix thriller iBoy (our review), she’s outlined the rollercoaster arc that awaits one Arya Stark, along with the many reasons fans should be “very, very excited” about the show’s forthcoming seventh season.
Now, Williams is ready to get serious, this time hitting back at hackers and Internet sleuths that consciously go out of their way to post spoiler-sensitive material online. It’s “childish [and] annoying,” says the young actress, who told Radio Times that:
“It hurts. It’s just like, oh we wanted to tell this story, and yeah, lots of people don’t want to read it, and don’t want to look at it. But then it’s even more annoying when you know [the leaks] might be from someone on the inside, and it’s just like… you’re trying to make something really cool, that is really cool, and people really like, and it’s like ‘stop ruining it’. It’s such a childish, annoying thing to do. And yeah, it’s sad. It really annoys me. I don’t know if that’s unexpected, that I’d be like ‘Oh, I don’t really mind!’ People still watch it, but it does really grind my gears.”
When it comes to Game of Thrones, the Internet tends to be dark and full of spoilers. But even still, it’s hard to argue against Williams’ logic. In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress turned her attention toward the show’s impending finale, and why she wants nothing more than to do her last scenes justice.
“It has been my security blanket and it’s been a safety net. If I haven’t worked, or if I haven’t landed a role, I never beat myself up too much, because I’ve always got Game of Thrones. To not have that around is going to be really strange, but it’s also really exciting. It means I can now shape my career and I’m not tied down to anything, and I can really make bold decisions.
“I’m just trying to do the last few scenes that I have justice. I’m just trying to shape Arya the way that I have been so far, and give her a nice arc to end with, and hope the people are happy with it.”
Game of Thrones returns for a seventh season sometime this summer without UFC champ Conor McGregor, according to the man himself. HBO’s fantasy saga will then stage its swan song in 2018.