Maisie Williams talks about The Falling, her boarding school indie drama
By Dan Selcke
Plenty of the prominent young actors on Game of Thrones have leveraged the show’s popularity into burgeoning film careers. Emilia Clarke is currently doing press for Terminator Genysis, her first blockbuster, while Kit Harington has appeared in both splashy action movies like Pompeii and smaller-scale dramas like Testament of Youth. Maisie Williams, another of the show’s featured players, is no exception. She recently sat down to discuss The Falling, an indie drama that received a wide release in the United Kingdom earlier this year.
As you can see from the trailer, the movie is a pretty drastic departure from anything Williams has done on Game of Thrones—she’s gone from playing the fierce Arya Stark to assuming the role of a mild-mannered, if troubled, boarding school attendee. The Falling is about a rash of fainting spells that effected members of an all-girls school in the 1960s, and Williams said she was attracted to the role because of the richness of the character.
"I have just always been intrigued by doing really interesting characters and whether or not that means it’s part of a studio film or an indie project, or a foreign movie, it’s all about great characters for me…But because this is such a different audience to the one I perform to in Game Of Thrones it was a bit scary, but I feel like indie films are something that really interests me and I am so thrilled to have been a part of something that was successful."
This sounds like a smart strategy to me, choosing a movie because of of the role rather than because it’ll be prominently featured around the world. The high-profile movies Harington and Clarke have appeared in may have exposed them to wider audiences, but both Pompeii and Terminator Genisys have been terribly reviewed. The Falling, on the other hand, was well-received, so even though it probably won’t make Williams a superstar, at least she’ll avoid embarrassment while honing her craft.
The Falling is also a significant project for Williams because it features the first sex scene she’s been a part of. When deciding whether to take the part, the actress weighed the value of this scene to the movie as a whole, and made sure it wasn’t just tossed in without reason.
"I read so many scripts with these big nude scenes that are just not necessary at all and don’t make any sense, as though someone has just written it for a bit of raciness. But I felt this was something I was very aware of that was going to be coming up soon — nudity or these sort of themes — and I wanted to do something that was really necessary and relevant."
Williams hasn’t had to engage in any sex scenes on Game of Thrones yet, but given the show’s reputation when it comes to frank depictions of sex, it’s not out of the question, especially as she and Arya get older. If this interview is any indication, it sounds like Williams will approach any such scenes with a healthy level of professionalism when and if they arrive.
Currently, there don’t seem to be any plans to release The Falling stateside, but that could change in time. Hopefully, movies like this will help build a film career for Williams. She’s certainly talented enough to deserve it.
H/T News.com.au