Bella Ramsay (Lyanna Mormont) On Stealing All Her Scenes

Game of Thrones casting director Nina Gold recently was given a BAFTA special award for her work in finding talent for the screen, both small and large. Among her many gifts is her ability to find young children who can knock their roles out of the park on Game of Thrones. Gold is responsible for finding everyone from Maisie Williams to Sophie Turner to Isaac Hempstead Wright. She casts talented kids in smaller roles, too, like Sam Coleman, who played Young Hodor earlier this year, or Bella Ramsay, who played Lyanna Mormont, everybody’s new favorite character. At only 12 years of age, this kid turned up on screen in “The Broken Man” and walked off with every last scene she was in, whether she opened her mouth or not.

Lyanna Mormont in her lone scene in “Battle of the Bastards.”

Ramsay was interviewed after the finale by the show’s official Making Game of Thrones blog, and the sheer amount of self-possession that pours forth from her is remarkable. For example, here’s how she reacted when she first got the scripts:

"I thought, “This is a character to really get my teeth into.” Lyanna is strong about what she believes, and wants to keep her family and island protected; she wants to be treated like an adult. She’s strong, and firm when she needs to be, and wants the best for her house and the North."

“A part you can really sink your teeth into.” Damn. Still, she *is* twelve, which means her parents didn’t let her watch the show prior to being cast. Even afterward, she was only allowed to watch, in her words, “a few suitable snippets.” Those snippets thankfully included Stannis receiving her letter in Season 5, so she at least had some idea of how the audience had been introduced to Lyanna Mormont before they saw her. But even after getting the script, it took a while before it clicked how important she was as a character.

"I read through the whole scene first, not necessarily focusing on my lines, but on the scene as a whole. I think it’s important to have an understanding for it before I start approaching actually learning my lines….It took me a while to realize it. I actually woke up one morning and the first thing I thought was, “Wow, I really am integral to the storyline.”It was good, really good, being fierce. It all kind of comes naturally when I become Lyanna because it’s in her nature; it’s just who she is. I loved the script for Episode 10 – how she doesn’t care that she is the youngest person in the room, and proceeds to shame the three leaders."

Why did Lyanna choose to side with the Starks? Ramsay credits Davos. It turns out that the ex-smuggler is just that darn good with kids. “Davos spoke to her as a leader of a house, rather than a child, which she was grateful for. He empathized with her, without babying her, which she respected. I think that influenced her decision.”

And for the record, she absolutely loved riding her horse in Episode 9 (his name was Iggy.) And the bear medallion she wears around her neck has a name, too: Boris. As for Bear Island as a home: “I think it’s pretty calm and relaxed, no stress, no rush. I think the food would be good and Lyanna would probably love the waterfall. It would be serene and peaceful. I’d like to live there!”

Considering it’s the one place in Westeros with a truly no-nonsense ruler, I think we can all agree that if we had to live in Westeros, we’d choose Bear Island, too.