STARK CONTRAST

Former Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams chats to LYNN RUSK about her new film, 500 Miles, an emotional adaptation of Mark Lowery’s novel, Charlie and Me

- LYNN RUSK

MAISIE WILLIAMS shot to fame at just 13 years old playing Arya Stark, one of the standout characters in the acclaimed HBO fantasy drama, Game of Thrones.

Her performance earned her two Emmy nominations and she continued in the role until she was 22, when the series concluded in 2019.

The actress has since gone on to star in Doctor Who and Pistol, Danny Boyle’s biographical drama about punk band Sex Pistols.

Now 29, Maisie’s latest film, 500 Miles, sees her play free-spirited Dublin-born busker Kait who encounters two brothers who have run away from their home in Sheffield to visit their grandfather in Dingle, County Kerry.

Directed by Morgan Matthews, the film is adapted from Charlie and Me, Mark Lowery’s novel for older children. It stars Roman Griffin Davis and Dexter Sol Ansell as brothers Finn and Charlie, who flee their family home in an attempt to reach their beloved grandfather, John, played by Bill Nighy. Their parents are portrayed by Michael Socha and Clare Dunne.

Following a recent, life-altering event, the details of which emerge as the brothers near their destination, John has become estranged from the family and is viewed as a pariah by the boys’ parents. As a result, Finn and Charlie have been prevented from seeing him.

As their feuding parents desperately search for them, the boys embark on an epic 500-mile adventure by land and sea from Yorkshire to Ireland’s rugged southwest coast.

Maisie says she found adapting a Dublin accent for the role of Kait “overwhelming” at first.