Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) talks filming Game of Thrones Season 6

12-year-old Bella Ramsey still isn’t allowed to watch Game of Thrones (her parents allowed her to watch her scenes), but she’s taken the fanbase by storm. Her character, Lyanna Mormont, was the breakout star of Season 6, and Ramsey’s work won her many accolades. UK arts outlet Leftlion recently talked to Ramsey to find out more about her time on the show. (The interview summarized in one quote: “I loved it.”) She’s gives as great an interview as you’d expect. “I like Lyanna’s fierceness and maturity – I have that in common with her,” she said. “Not so much the fierceness, but everyone always says, ‘I can’t believe you’re only twelve.'”

As Leftlion points out, Lyanna almost rode into battle alongside Jon Snow during “Battle of the Bastards.” “Yeah, and give Ramsay Bolton the death stare,” Ramsey replied. It seems like young Ramsey is very aware of her internet fame, as that scowl is now her calling card. She even talks about jokingly emulating Lyanna Mormont in real life situations, like putting her hand up to make someone stop speaking, as in the featured image at the top of the post. In fact, she seems dedicated to remaining in character whenever possible.

"After the audition, we were at the dinner table and I kept being Lyanna. My mum got really scared of me because I wouldn’t stop. If anyone started laughing at the table I just said, “Don’t laugh in my house. You don’t laugh at me. Pass me the salt.”"

Ramsey came by that audition in an interesting way. After joining The Television Workshop, a training ground for young actors in England, her path took an unexpected turn:

"It was down at Workshop, for the new BFG film. I did all the script, and then they asked me if I’d ever had a dream that I could still remember. I told them about this really weird one: this farmer was chasing me, and he had an army of dogs with him. That was what made them start looking for parts for me, because they said they saw how animated I was. They said I didn’t have the ‘Hollywood’ look for the BFG, but said they would keep looking out for stuff for me."

And then they came back with an audition for Game of Thrones. “I always say to people that all this acting has come from my farmer dream,” she said. Funny how that works.

She kept the fun stories coming. For example, during her time on set, Ramsey met Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) in his full FrankenGregor prosthetics. He couldn’t speak to her, because that makeup job is intense, so he just stared at her. “I didn’t know how to speak to him,” she said. I wonder who would win in that staring contest?

Happily, Ramsey got along with everyone she worked with on set, and some she didn’t.

"I liked all of them, they’re all really funny. I met everyone I was in the scene with, and Peter Dinklage who was really cool. I also met [Emilia], who plays Daenerys. I was the only child on set but they didn’t treat me like one, which was good."

Her favorite scene to film was her big one from “The Winds of Winter,” when she stands up and shames the Northern lords for not declaring for Jon Snow earlier. The only drawback to that scene was that the studio was really hot, but “[i]f it wasn’t for the heat, that would definitely be my favourite.”

Other odds and ends:

• As any Game of Thrones fan knows, Lyanna Mormont is a meme-making machine. Ramsey’s favorite is this one about the Brexit vote:

• Finally, Ramsey was asked if she’d rather have a pet dragon or a pet giant. “Dragons are cool, but you can actually speak to giants. Also, I could basically fly on the giant’s finger.”

There’s a whole spinoff just waiting to happen about the friendship between Lyanna Mormont and her pal Wun Wun before The Battle of the Bastards. Aw, now I’m imagining Wun Wun carrying Lyanna around in his hands, picking flowers, and having picnics in the snow.

Bella Ramsey is a delight, and I sincerely hope we see her return in Game of Thrones Season 7.