Maisie Williams
April 15, 1997 — Bristol, England
Margaret Constance Williams — known professionally as Maisie Williams — is an English actress who became one of the most recognizable faces of the 2010s through her portrayal of Arya Stark in HBO's Game of Thrones, playing the character from age 12 through to the series finale and receiving two Primetime Emmy nominations for her performance.
From Bristol to Westeros
Born on April 15, 1997 in Bristol, England, Williams trained in street dance and acting as a child. She auditioned for Game of Thrones at age 11 with no prior professional experience — her audition reportedly stood out immediately — and was cast as Arya Stark, the rebellious youngest daughter of the Stark family whose arc over the series evolved from a nobleman's child into one of the show's most formidable characters. The show debuted in 2011 when Williams was 13, and she appeared in all eight seasons through to its 2019 conclusion.
Arya Stark and the Art of Transformation
Arya Stark is one of the defining characters of the prestige television era: a girl who becomes a deadly assassin while never entirely losing her identity, whose journey across continents and moral compromises forms one of the narrative spines of a show that ran for a decade. The character demanded enormous range from Williams — childhood, adolescence, combat sequences, loss, grief, philosophical crisis. Williams delivered across all of it and became, by the show's middle seasons, many viewers' favorite character. Her penultimate-season episode in which Arya kills the Night King became a cultural event.
Did You Know?
Williams performed virtually all of her own stunts throughout Game of Thrones, training extensively in swordfighting and combat choreography — particularly the distinctive "water dancing" style associated with Arya's fighting technique. The training was so demanding and consistent across the show's run that Williams has said she became something close to genuinely proficient with a sword by the later seasons, not merely someone mimicking the movements.
Post-Thrones Career
Since Game of Thrones ended, Williams has worked to diversify her profile. She appeared in the Marvel film The New Mutants (2020) as Rahne Sinclair, starred in the psychological thriller series Two Weeks to Live (2020), and appeared in the West End production of 2:22 – A Ghost Story in 2022. She has also spoken candidly about the psychological toll of growing up almost entirely in the public eye, discussing mental health struggles and the difficulties of developing a sense of self when you become internationally famous at 13. She co-founded the app Daisie to connect emerging creative talent.