“I Feel Myself Coming Back To The Surface”: Maisie Williams On Her Cathartic Quarantine

Maisie Williams returns to our screen this week in revenge comedy Two Weeks To Live as Kim, who leaves her overbearing mother (Fleabag’s Sian Clifford) behind to avenge her dead father’s killer. Along the way, our heroine encounters obstacles that allow Williams to utilise her Game Of Thrones-era combat skills once again – albeit with Needle swapped out for rather more 2020 ammunition.

“The original storyline was that a virus broke out and the world was going to end,” Maisie told Miss Vogue, having dialled into a call from her current base in Paris. ”I had to do ADR [dubbing] from my bedroom, because there actually was a virus going on, so we changed it to a nuclear war. The storyline we had chosen became real — it was our reality and not just a story.”

Williams delights in the fact that Two Weeks To Live has a young female lead at its heart, but is still keen to see even more opportunities for women both in front of and behind the camera. “There are such wonderful characters written for women at the moment, and I’ve been lucky enough to play some of them, but there are still a lot of interesting stories to be told. We need to find great female teams to be able to tell them.”

Playing Kim gave the actor an opportunity to get her teeth into a comedy role for the first time. “I first read the script about four years ago when it was a film, and thought it had real potential. If something can make you laugh, then the chances are it will make other people laugh, too,” she explained. This isn’t to say that nailing comic timing was without its challenges. “Comedy is terrifying and intimidating to do,” said Maisie. “Even if I could do this show again I would do so many things differently, and I’ve learned so much for the next comedy role that I do. I always see things that I would want to do differently. I think watching yourself is painful!”

While seeing Maisie do full-blown funny will be a new experience for fans, other elements of her role in Two Weeks To Live are more familiar. Aside from being more than capable of holding their own in a fight, further comparisons can be drawn between Kim and Arya Stark. They’re both headstrong and tomboyish, and both offer a different version of the young female experience than those we’re used to seeing on screen.

Maisie appears to have no qualms about the dearth of damsels in distress on her CV. “I don’t usually get to read [for roles] like that, because aesthetics-wise, I don’t really look [like] the stereotype of a damsel in distress, which is also all made up and all in our own heads anyway. I just think that people don’t see me that way, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself that way either.” According to Maisie, her body of work reflects a feeling she’s had since she was a child. “I have always felt very different to the girls and women I grew up around, and a lot of that comes out in my art. I think that I do wear that with me everywhere I go. I do feel different, but that’s something that I embrace.”

It’s all part of an ongoing journey towards acceptance for Maisie, who says she has recently begun to rediscover the confidence she lost during her teenage years. “I got really lost and I didn’t know what to do, and would second guess everything about myself. I really feel myself coming back to the surface again, and I think this lockdown has helped that. I feel very different from the girl who went into quarantine, and I feel so much more confident.”

Her advice to other young women who have experienced similar struggles? “No one else is as cool as you are, and trying to be like anyone else is going to cause you a lot of pain. I think that people just need to let go of the expectations in their head – expectations of other people but also of themselves – and learn to exist in this world as they are, and learn to be better to themselves and other people.”

Maisie’s cathartic quarantine also coincided with her settling into a new city: she moved to Paris just before the lockdown was introduced. “I’ve been learning French which is something I’ve always wanted to do, so that’s been really enjoyable. I’ve also just been reading a lot and drinking tea. I didn’t have anything to complain about, and I know it hasn’t been that way for everyone,” she told us. “I’ve been trying to be happy with what is happening today – even if that is just being stuck in your house – and being grateful for everything that I have. I can definitely relate to that feeling of wanting tomorrow to come, and wanting things to be better or different or more – or whatever it might be. I can see why Kim escaped her mother’s clutches and went after a more exciting life.”

Two Weeks To Live will air tonight on Sky One and is available to stream in full.

Maisie Williams on Success and Being Part of an Empowered Generation. Famous for her portrayal of the young and tenacious Arya Stark in Game of Thrones, British actress Maisie Williams reflects on her success, the responsibility her generation holds, and the watch she feels is the perfect embodiment of achievement, confidence, and class. Here’s our exclusive interview with the up and coming star.

How would you describe yourself and where you are in your career?
I guess my career has been pretty extraordinary. Until this point, I’ve never really had a direction and I’ve allowed myself to be pulled through this industry. Me as a person? I would say I’m a control freak so from here on I see myself having a clear plan and goal.

What achievement are you most proud of so far?
To be recognized by the Academy [of Television Arts & Sciences] for my role on Game of Thrones is something that I’m really proud of.

What does it mean to be successful today?
Success is a positive mental attitude. You take from the world what you put in; I’m currently manifesting my happiness and success.

What’s the main thing you’ve learned from success?
Success is entirely personal – it’s never about the status which comes with the work that you’ve achieved. It’s always about the way you feel about the work you’ve achieved, and if you’re doing something which you find unfulfilling you’ll never see it as success.

What’s left for you to achieve? What other achievements are you striving for?
Too many to count. I want to direct and produce; I see art and creativity as fluid, so I’m interested in pushing the boundaries of what film and television can be.

At what point did you realise you wanted to use your celebrity status towards something bigger, grander and more personal?
When realised people had a preconceived idea of the sort of person I was before getting to know me.

Anyone has the power to change the world, especially those with influence. I believe we were put on this earth to do more than just exist, I want to leave the planet in a better state than the way I found it because I think that’s my purpose. I don’t want to only be a mother for my children, but I will also be a mother for the world.

How important is collaboration for you?
I rely on other people for energy. I find conversation to be an excellent way to understand the thoughts within your brain. I think we need other people to be a better version of ourselves and for that reason collaboration is the most important thing in creativity.

You used to one of the youngest actors of your generation. What’s it like to grow up in your industry?
Growing up in the industry is like being the youngest child in the family. You watch the people before you, you see their decisions and actions. You learn from their mistakes and you choose the way you want to be similar, and also different.

What distinguishes your generation from those of the past?
Generation Z has an experience unlike any generation that’s come before. We’re on the cusp of something so monumental, we can’t even see it or understand it yet. To be growing up in this era and creating art feels other-worldly. I know the emotions captured today will be around for hundreds of years, because this new age of technology will inhabit the veins of our society for the rest of eternity.

Describe your generation in three words.
Mischievous, compassionate, riotous.

Do you have a motto that you live by?
Get that head, get that bread, then leave – peace out.

How did you start your career?
My career came to fruition through persistence. I love to perform more than anything in the world. At every opportunity to be seen by a new audience or to meet new people who were linked to the industry, I made sure I was there even from the age of eight.

As a young woman in the film industry, what challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge I faced as a young woman in the film industry would be my body image. There’s immense pressure on young women to look a particular way. We need to be striking but in a soft, appealing way. To be curvy but with a slim waist and skinny arms. At a certain level the decisions stop focusing around talent and they purely come down to aesthetics.

Maisie Williams is part of the Pasha de Cartier community, which also includes Rami Malek, Troye Sivan, Jackson Wang and Willow Smith
What does time mean to you?
I used to feel like I was running out of time, but that was because I used to fill my time with pointless things. Now I see time as being precious and I don’t want to waste it.

What’s more challenging, being an actress or an entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is pretty stressful. Business brings out the worst in people and having to compete with personalities like that is draining.

What’s your message to young women like yourself?
Never let the people who don’t care for the real you distract you from loving who you are. Don’t waste time being anyone other than yourself.

Who’s your favourite actor from the ’80s?
Linda Hamilton or Sigourney Weaver.

What was your reaction when Cartier approached you?
I was extremely flattered. It’s such an honour to be approached by a brand as famous as Cartier.

Maisie Williams wears the new Pasha de Cartier watch
The Pasha watch was initially created in 1985. What’s the first image that comes to mind when you think about the ’80s?
Princess Diana and her athleisure.

We are surrounded by devices that tell time. Why do you choose to wear a watch? What does it represent to you?
My phone represents chaos – every five seconds it’s a notification or an email or a text. My watch literally gives me more time in my day, it’s magic.

How would you describe the watch you’re wearing?
It’s a subtle reminder of how far I’ve come without being flashy or insensitive.

The distinct design of the Pasha watch challenges the predominance of round shapes in watchmaking and amplifies its presence, originality and singularity. How do you relate with the watch and the spirit of Pasha de Cartier?
I see my style as being fluid in terms of gender and I think this watch is empowering to wear for women like me.

Prada 2020.

After eight seasons as Arya Stark on “Game of Thrones,” Maisie Williams is no stranger to blood, violence, guts and gore.

In her latest role, as a vengeful girlfriend in the gruesome thriller “The Owners,” Williams isn’t afraid to get down and dirty in the name of survival. The ’90s-set movie — directed by Julius Berg and written by Berg and Matthieu Gompel — follows childhood friends who break in and attempt to rob their elderly neighbor’s empty mansion. But when the owners come home earlier than expected, chaos ensues.

“I liked the script and I liked that it was set in the ’90s,” Williams says. “I just thought doing a psychological thriller would be really good fun. I’ve always loved the genre.”

Before “The Owners” is released digitally and in theaters on Sept. 4, Williams will hit the big screen in the superhero epic “The New Mutants.” After two years of delays, the final chapter in the “X-Men” franchise is premiering on Aug. 28.

One perk of the pandemic, Williams says, is getting to promote projects from the comfort of her house in the U.K. In the last few weeks, she’s made rounds on the late-night circuit with virtual appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” She does occasionally miss the glitz and glam involved with dressing up for TV interviews and Hollywood premieres, but she’s mostly relieved she doesn’t have to think twice about lounging in her favorite pair of sweats.

“I find live appearances to be quite nerve wracking, so doing these live shows from your own home is really lovely, actually,” the 23-year-old British actress says. “Even now that I started leaving the house a bit more, I don’t know that I’m ever going to wear jeans again.”

Ahead of her next two movies, Williams spoke to Variety about “New Mutants” finally being released after many, many delays, her post-“Game of Thrones” career and the hobbies she’s picked up in quarantine.

How did filming an indie movie like “The Owners” compare to big studio productions like “Game of Thrones” or “New Mutants”?

It never really feels that different. “New Mutants” was an exception, but that was because we filmed in the States, and I feel like the money spent on food in America is so much more than we do in the U.K. It’s also rare that your heater in your trailer really works in the U.K., whereas in the U.S., there’s a running shower and hot water and a little incense stick.

Otherwise, it’s like you’re always pushed for time. You always could be filming for longer. It’s always stressful days. Everyone isn’t getting paid anywhere near as much, and so people are kind of just doing it more for the art of it. And I think that has a real difference on set. Creativity can really flourish when there’s less time and more pressure and less of a budget.

“New Mutants” was delayed so many times over the last two years. Did you ever reach a point where you thought it wouldn’t open in theaters?

I knew that they spent $80 million on it, so I thought, if this movie never comes out, that is such a huge waste of money that really could have made a huge impact in the world. I’m so glad that it is coming out, finally. I hope that people enjoy it. I did definitely think in the middle that maybe it would go straight to streaming. But it’s going to come out in the theater, so I hope that maybe we’ll get a good turnout. I don’t know if anyone’s really going outside.

How do you feel about people going to see it in movie theaters during a pandemic?

I just hope that people wear masks and that cinemas are clean. I know there is quite an intense cleaning that happens in between films anyway. So I would hope that the extra precautions can be knitted in fairly easily to the viewing schedule. But I just hope people are safe. If people don’t feel comfortable, don’t go watch it. It’s going to come out on DVD at some point, you can watch it then.

Did you know from the start that your character Rahne in “New Mutants” would be part of a same-sex romance?

I knew in the comics, the two characters Dani and Rahne had a telepathic connection. When I was speaking with [director] Josh [Boone], he was like, “We’re going to amp that up into a romantic relationship” — which I thought made a lot of sense anyway. If you could actually read someone’s mind, I think that’s kind of what love is — being able to detect someone’s body language and understand how they’re feeling and try to make them feel better, even if you’re in a social setting. If these two characters do have a telepathic connection, I think that is kind of synonymous with love.

I think it’s really important to have a relationship like this at the forefront of a superhero movie or any kind of action movie. I love that a relationship like that is normalized in a film of this scale. I don’t think it’s even labeled at all, and I don’t think the girls ever even ask each other out. They just fall in love when they first meet each other.

Now that Disney owns 20th Century Fox, would you ever want to revisit your X-Men character in a Marvel movie?

Potentially. I think it’s a standard thing with a lot of studios now. If you sign on for one film, they write it in [the contracts] that they can do sequels or they can bring you back for other pictures. I would be excited to play Rahne again. I mean, who knows? I love this story. I think these characters are really interesting for the youth of today to see. And if the movie does well, I would happily come back and do more. It’s up to the people I guess. If teenagers hate it, we will leave it here. But if they liked it, then I wouldn’t deprive anyone of that.

What kind of roles are you interested in?

A lot of the stuff that I’ve done recently has been in an alternate world, and I miss the honesty of playing a girl who isn’t a mutant or she’s not saving the world. I [want to play] a complex woman of now and today. I think these films lack some kind of vulnerability, and I really crave to feel vulnerable on set. There’s a real comfort in doing something that has a lot of effects or blood because there’s so many other things to distract the audience from you. But doing something which is more raw is something that I’m craving at the moment.

After “Game of Thrones,” did you worry about being typecast?

It was never a worry, but it is something that could happen very easily. I’ve always felt so confident that I have a lot of other things to give. If I knew that was all I could do, that is probably all I would do for the rest of my career. And people will happily cast me as similar characters to Arya or Rahne, and that’s very easy for me to do and there’s a lot of that available to me. But I’m really interested in changing people’s opinions of me and showing people all of the other sides to myself that I can bare on screen. I think that’s already happening. I’ve had a lot of really lovely meetings during this lockdown, which have made me feel very excited for the future.

How have you been keeping busy during the pandemic? Have you taken up any new hobbies?

I started learning French, which is going really well. I’ve always wanted to learn other languages, honestly, so I started with French. I’ve been painting and reading and I’ve had a lot of free time, so I just tried to do things that made me really happy. I have found it to be a really meditative and joyful few months of my life.