Maisie Williams is opening up about the possibility of returning to the Game of Thrones universe as Arya Stark.
In a Sunday, September 6, interview with the U.K.’s Guardian, Williams, 29, said she had seen reports suggesting HBO could be developing a project centered on her former character.
“I saw that, too! I was like, ‘Huh?’” she said.
When asked whether she would be interested in playing Arya again, Williams made it clear that the character would need to evolve before she would consider returning.
“I don’t know, really,” she explained. “She would have to be developed in some way because I feel like I’ve changed so much.”
Williams added that part of Arya’s appeal came from the fact that she was a child doing things that felt unusually mature for her age. Because Williams herself has grown so much since the series, she suggested that any future version of Arya would need to reflect that change.
The actress was only 12 years old when she was cast as Arya Stark and spent much of her teenage years working on the hit HBO fantasy series.
Williams also reflected on how difficult the years immediately after Game of Thrones ended were for her.
“The first half of my 20s was just hell,” she said, adding that the end of the show left her unsure about what she wanted to do next.
She explained that she needed time away after spending so much of her childhood and adolescence on the series. Williams also said she was dealing with delayed teenage experiences, the COVID-19 pandemic and an industry strike during that period of her life.
Since Game of Thrones ended in 2019, the franchise has continued expanding.
HBO has launched House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, while Warner Bros. is also developing a movie spinoff tentatively titled Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest.
Williams is not the only original cast member whose character has been considered for a possible return.
Her former costar Kit Harington previously confirmed that a Jon Snow sequel series had been explored but ultimately did not move forward.
Harington said the team struggled to find a story that would justify bringing the character back, explaining that he did not want to revisit Jon unless there was a strong creative reason to do so.
For now, Williams has not confirmed that she is attached to any Arya Stark project. Still, her comments leave the possibility open — as long as the character is given a meaningful new direction.
