Though considered as one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood today, thanks to her role as Arya Stark on the hit HBO fantasy drama "Game of Thrones," Maisie Williams said that she is not a "classic beauty" in Hollywood terms, and she is enjoying it.
"Everyone's got their insecurities, and when someone points them out to you publicly it hurts," she told Teen Vogue (via The Independent). "But whenever I get down, I think, I'd rather look the way I do and have a killer personality than be like every other girl. I pride myself on being different."
The 17-year-old British actress also told the magazine that she loves playing Arya. "She's really cool," she said of her role. "The fact that she can speak her mind so freely and not worry about the consequences. I think we all wish we could be a bit more like that."
On Sept. 8 at the TV Choice Awards, the "Heatstroke" actress recently teased about what is in store for her character when "Game of Thrones" returns for its fifth season. Williams told Yahoo! Celebrity UK & Ireland that viewers "might not recognize Arya" next year.
In the Season 4 finale, Arya was last seen boarding a ship to Braavos after leaving her captor, The Hound, to die. And when the actress said that fans of the TV show might not recognize her character in Season 5, she was probably referring to how different Arya would be next season from the young innocent Arya that viewers met back in Season 1.
Last July, Williams likened Arya to "a misunderstood Darth Vader," telling EntertainmentWise, "You pick him up kind of already at that stage and then you find out so much more about him before. And, it's the same with Arya, although we're actually seeing that twisted path, which is almost more disturbing than you hating a character and then realizing they're actually quite good."
"To actually see one of your favorite characters - of such a lovely young, funny girl, slowly be chipped and chipped away into something completely else, I think, even for me, it was really hard to play, and I'm reading scenes, like, 'God, this is not the Arya that I thought I was going to be playing,'" she shared. "And yeah, it's different and I really, really hope people still continue to follow her storyline," she added.