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Maisie Williams reveals filming first s-x scene was ‘extremely awkward’

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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After five years on Game of Thrones, Maisie Williams is used to being in front of the camera, but recording her first se* scene was “extremely awkward.”

In the upcoming film ‘The Falling,’ the ‘Game of Thrones’ actor portrays a teenager who gets fascinated with her female best friend, and her character Lydia Lamont loses her virginity to Joe Cole’s alter ego Kenneth at one point.

Williams talked about the experience with Vulture.

She acknowledged, “It was extremely awkward! But [co-star] Joe [Cole] was very sensitive to the fact that I had never done a scene like this before, and it was great to work with someone who was so considerate of that.”

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“The reason I wanted to play Lydia in the first place was that she’s such a different character than Arya. When I look at scripts, I always worry that the director isn’t going to see past me playing Arya Stark or that sort of character. So I fought for this role, and (the director) was really open to letting me try out. She really gave me a chance, and I’m so grateful for that. But I wanted to prove myself.”

However, the fact that she is and always will be Arya Stark was helpful on set:

“What would happen, like on the ‘Doctor Who’ set, was I would threaten people with giving them spoilers if anyone would wind me up. I would threaten to spoil the next episode. Or I’d go, “I’ll spoil the next season!” And everyone would be like, ‘No! No! No! Don’t! You can’t give any spoilers!’ So that was really, really good. It was a power I had over the whole cast and crew.”

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While the Game of Thrones actress bonded with her on-screen lover, Maxine Peake, who plays her estranged mother, did not.

“Carol [Morley], our director, told Maxine not to communicate with me and to keep her distance, so she wouldn’t create a relationship with me — because within the story, our characters don’t have a relationship. But Carol hadn’t told me she was going to do this! So here I am, trying to make contact with Maxine every single day, trying to make it work, and her never giving anything back. I’d be like, ‘How was your day?’ and she’d be like, ‘Mmmm,’ and walk away. Throughout the shoot I was so miserable because I thought she hated me. I thought all the adults hated me, and I had no idea why. I was just trying to prove myself and be a good actress.”

She continued, “The last scene we shot was the final one, where she grabs Lydia in the water, and we clasp each other and go, ‘I love you! There’s nothing wrong with you!’ It’s all emotional and stuff. And this whole time, we hadn’t spoken with each other. I’d never spoken properly to this lady! So I was like, ‘This is kind of crazy!’ Then we had a wrap party just after shooting that scene, and she was like, ‘Um, sorry about all of that! Carol told me not to create a relationship with you, so I’ve been ignoring you this whole time. I didn’t mean to be nasty or difficult.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God! So you don’t hate me?! Perfect.'”

Maisie was glad to answer questions and offer guidance to her female co-stars, many of whom lacked the acting expertise she had garnered from appearing in the HBO fantasy series, much as she was thankful to Joe for his assistance.

“For most of the girls, this was their first film – so before we started shooting, I had this big conversation with a lot of them about what it was going to be like on set,” she told Vulture magazine. “I didn’t want to boast or anything, but it can be scary if you’re not exposed to that. People are talking to you and you have no idea what they’re speaking about or what they mean. It was important to make sure they all felt comfortable, so I answered their questions as much as I could. Then, during shooting, we all lived in a house together. We were sharing rooms and sharing beds, and we’d have heart-to-heart talks all the time.”

Florence Pugh and Greta Scacchi feature in The Falling, which is accessible online and in select cinemas.