This week sees the release of Gold, Niall Heery’s family comedy set in County Dublin. We caught up with the film’s star Maisie Williams to talk boundaries, bulling and Braavos.
Gold is one of many films that you’ve worked on currently. What do you look for in a project?
As a young actress I’m drawn to projects that push me. I liked Gold because I got to use an accent and it’s a dark comedy which is something that I haven’t tried before.
How did you prepare for an Irish accent, did you get help from any of your co-stars?
I had a dialect coach and the cast and crew helped me out, and it helped that we were filming in Dublin. We tried to make the accent a subtle one so as not to offend anyone!
Abbey is pretty competitive and athletic, was this something that came naturally to you?
I’m quite active anyway and luckily the running scenes didn’t last too long so I was ok. The scenes were I’m competing were filmed with real cross country runners, but thankfully they went easy on me so I didn’t have to work too hard.
There’s a small cast involved, what was your time on set like?
Nesbitt is fantastic, he’s got great comedy timing and isn’t afraid to look like an idiot in the film. He should be really pleased with his performance in the film because it’s so funny. We’d also have a good laugh on set and he’s so easy to get on with. Patrick [Gibson] who plays Devon is a magician so he’d be trying out card tricks on us in between takes, so it was a lot of fun to work with everyone.
You’ve been working on a new programme, Cyber Bully, for Channel 4…
We wrapped Cyberbully last week it and it was completely different to anything that I’ve done before. It was the most intense shoot that I’ve ever done and it was only over eight days. I think it’s an important thing to talk about because the internet we shouldn’t still be saying “Oh it’s just the internet.” It shows how by accessing someone’s files and personal information they can control you and how powerful that is.
It sounds like an area that you yourself feel quite strongly about.
I’m been online from a young age and I’ve mostly had a good experience. I know that because of my name that there are going to be consequences but people shouldn’t abuse the power of the internet. I replied to one troll on and told them that I wasn’t happy with their comments, and I received this flood of Tweets telling me that if I was trying to teach manners on the internet I would be there a long time. I just don’t think a few arseholes should ruin it for the rest of us, it’s not acceptable anywhere else so why should it be online?
Season 5 of Game of Thrones is now well into production, can you tell me what we can expect to see with Arya this time round?
Last time we saw Arya she was on the boat heading to Braavos and next season she’s going to be spending much more time on the boat. Her character gets really interesting and it’s a powerful story, it’s been fun to play. She’s trying not trying to take control of things as much anymore.
Gold is available to buy now on DVD.
