Maisie Williams can’t believe that Beyoncé and her husband Jay Z are fans of ‘Game of Thrones’.
Since 2011, the 19-year-old British actress has played the role of Arya Stark – a tomboyish young girl from a noble family – in the HBO fantasy drama television series.
It was her first professional role as an actress but even five years down the line, Maisie admits she hasn’t got used to the scale of her fame yet and the fact that so many celebrities are viewers.
Speaking to Nick Grimshaw on Thursday morning (05.05.16) on his BBC Radio One Breakfast Show, Maisie said: "I recently went to Japan and I was like, ‘Oh I’m here too,’ I’m so far from home and to still have the same reaction is kind of mind blowing."
Nick then reeled off the names of celebrities who have made Twitter posts about ‘Game of Thrones’ or admitted their fandom, listing the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lawrence and American President Barack Obama.
In response to the list, Maisie said: "Incredible – that’s a pretty decent line up! That’s like when people ask you, ‘If you could have 10 famous people at a dinner party who would it be?’ it’s that kind of list really. They’re cool people."
But when she began to imagine the reality of Beyoncé and Jay Z settling down to watch an episode, after putting their four-year-old daughter Blue Ivy to bed, Maisie exclaimed: "It does blow my mind. It’s so mad – even on her tour bus she’s like Queen B and then she’ll just sit with her slippers on watching ‘Game of Thrones’."
American President Barack Obama even requested to see all the episodes of the show before anyone else.
Maisie said: "He got the episodes sooner than everyone else and I was like, ‘Can I ask for that? Or am I being part of the show, not special enough?’ "
Despite the huge success of ‘Game of Thrones’ and her increasing profile as an actress, Bristol-born Maisie remains the same person she’s always been.
She said: "It’s nice to go back and think, ‘No, I’m still just Maisie.’ "Everyone’s really shocked when I say my friends and family don’t really watch the show but it’s just the way it is.
"It’s quite nice when I come home – I don’t really like talking about what I get up to because you spend your whole life talking about yourself, what your next project is and what your last project was. And although that is incredible and important, it’s nice to just go home and be like, ‘What have you been up to?’ "
Maisie Williams is stunned Beyoncé’s a Game of Thrones fan
