Faye Marsay is currently impressing fans as Rebel soldier Vel Sartha on Star Wars: Andor, the best thing to come out of the galaxy far, far away in years. But if you saw Marsay on Andor and thought, “Where do I know her from?” you probably watched a lot of Game of Thrones. Marsay played the Waif, Arya Stark’s rival in the House of Black and White, on HBO’s hit fantasy show.
You remember the Wait, right? She helped train Arya to become a Faceless Man, mostly by knocking her around with a stick while Arya was blind. Later, she tried to murder Arya, but Arya got the jump on her, presenting her face to Jaqen H’ghar before leaving Braavos.
The Waif wasn’t especially likable, and some fans mixed Marsay up with her character. “After Thrones came out, there was quite intense backlash at one point. Just because of the character I played,” Marsay told the Independent. “[The fans] hated her. Because Maisie’s character was, like, the one — and there I am, hitting her with a stick.”
Game of Thrones star took a break from social media amid backlash
At the time, Marsay was reasonably active on social media, but had to “take a step back” until the hate died down.
"Social media can be a brutal tool, and we all know it. Look at the mental health crisis that young people are going through right now — that’s not just because of the pandemic, or teenage angst!"
The phenomenon of actors leaving social media for a while because fans can’t tell them apart from their characters is nothing new; House of the Dragon star Emily Carey took a break from social media last year after fans blasted her over what her character, Young Alicent Hightower, did on the show.
That’s the thing about social media: it allows for celebrities to be in contact with their fans and vice versa…but that’s doesn’t always make for the healthiest of relationships. It does seem like more celebrities are getting comfortable with just unplugging for awhile. Expect more strategies to develop as the world continues to explore the exciting boundaries of the parasocial relationship.
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