Maisie Williams weighs in on Game of Thrones’ alleged sexism, women in movies
By Dan Selcke
Of all the Game of Thrones cast members, Maisie Williams has seemed like the most outspoken lately, whether she’s adding fuel to the “Jon Snow is dead” fire, getting articulate about Arya’s identity crisis, or worrying about what Season 6 of the show will bring her way. That’s a good thing, too, as Williams is consistently entertaining, insightful, and refreshing. Check out this excerpt from a recent interview she did with Time, which asked her about what she would look for in big studio movie role, given that, according to her, “in studio films women aren’t written as well a lot of the time.”
"Not just the girlfriend—yeah. I just think someone who is complex and introduced in the script not just as: “Sally. 30. Hot.” Like it’s so frustrating to read that in a script and then next to it you have the male lead: “Jason. 30. Kind face, kindhearted person, good with his son,” you know all these things about who you are rather than what you look like. When you find something that actually goes in depth about who the female character is, what drives her, not just her hair color, that’s better."
That’s a wonderfully clear-headed response. After she’s through with Game of Thrones, it would make me very happy to see Williams rise through the ranks of promising young film actresses and spread this philosophy around Hollywood.
Williams may be on her way to appearing in bigger-budget fair. She told Time that she would love to do a “massive studio film” if she could find the right role, and has been hard at work cutting her teeth on smaller projects like The Falling, an independent film about a rash of fainting at an English boarding house. (Odd site note: Williams filmed her first sex scene for this film. In a strange case of Game of Thrones déjà vu, it involved her character having sex with her own brother. Probably a coincidence.)
While on the subject of women in film, Time naturally brought up the still-simmering controversy over the scenes of sexual violence that cropped up during Game of Thrones Season 5. Like others who have spoken out on this topic, Williams advocated putting these scenes in context.
"I feel like people are treated badly on it all the time—men, women, girls, boys…animals. It’s set in a time where women didn’t have it easy. Women haven’t had it good over history, like it’s been a pretty s*** time for us. And like a lot of other fantasy, the show takes on controversial topics."
Still, she did say that she found it “understandable” if some fans stopped watching the show because they found the violence against women too off-putting. On the other hand, she said that, as an actress, playing these kinds of scenes was rewarding because of the unique challenges they present.
"I want to be a part of moving scenes, and not scenes that are mundane or pointless. Like I’d rather be in these hard scenes on Game of Thrones playing this character who is real dealing with real problems than be in boring scenes as a two-dimensional character."