Three years after Game of Thrones’ disappointing ending, the epic fantasy show may have all but disappeared from the pop culture landscape, but its stars are still getting asked about the show’s legacy. In a recent interview with GQ, Maisie Williams has explained why she doesn’t miss Game of Thrones, and has reflected on why she found herself resenting her character Arya Stark.
When asked what she missed most about Game of Thrones, which Williams was a part of for its full eight-year run, the actress responded with “Can I say none of it?” She went on to elaborate on that answer, explaining that she doesn’t want to feel sad about what was overall a positive experience for her.
“I don’t think it’s healthy [to miss it], because I loved it,” Williams told GQ. “I look at it so fondly, and I look at it with such pride. But why would I want to make myself feel sad about the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I don’t want to associate that with feelings of pain.”
Unsurprisingly, the experience wasn’t always positive for the actress, with the show’s pop cultural dominance blowing back on her personal life. Williams spoke about a time when she started to resent her character Arya, which happened when the character’s coming-of-age diverged from her own.
While Maisie Williams took up the mantle of Arya when she was only 13 years old, she was always a number of years older than the character she portrayed, leading to people expecting her to look or act a certain way.
“I think that when I started becoming a woman, I resented Arya because I couldn’t express who I was becoming,” Williams explained. “And then I also resented my body, because it wasn’t aligned with the piece of me that the world celebrated.”
