Maisie Williams says playing Arya in 'GoT' made her 'ashamed' of her body

Actor Maisie Williams, who became a household name after playing Arya Stark in the insanely popular HBO series 'Game of Thrones', opened up about the negative impact the character had on her self esteem and body image.

She was originally cast in 2011 at the age of 14 and played Arya until the show concluded in May, this year, so it's safe to say that Maisie grew up on 'GoT'. But in a recent interview, Maisie explained how being on the show negatively affected her sense of body image when she started to "mature," reported USA TODAY.

The 22-year-old star revealed that she felt "horrible" and "conscience" about her body image while shooting for the series.

 

"Maybe around Season 2 or 3, my body started to mature and I started to become a woman," Williams said during Vogue's '24 Hours With Maisie Williams'.

"But Arya was still very much, like, trying to be disguised as a boy," she added.

The actor said that the lengths 'GoT' went to disguise her developing body and mask her womanhood made her "a bit ashamed" of her body for a while.

"They would also put this strap across my chest to flatten any growth that had started, and I don't know, that just felt horrible for six months of the year," she said.

"I had really short hair and they constantly covered me in dirt and shaded my nose so it looked really broad and I look, like, really manly," she added.

However, the actor said that she has now learned to love the skin she's in. Since 'Game of Thrones' ended, Williams said that she has experimented with a new phase of style which makes her feel more feminine.

"With this new phase of my style, it is nice to look more feminine and have a real waistline and just embrace the body that I have," Williams said.

After a remarkable 8-year-long journey, the show concluded earlier this year with the eighth and last season. While it was mostly a pleasant and seamless run, the last season of the show received a mixed reaction from the fans.

Many disappointed fans even started a petition urging the makers to remake the last season of the series "with competent writers". The petition managed to garner more than 1 million signatures.

'Game of Thrones' received a total of 32 Emmy nominations and took home two awards - Best Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage) and Outstanding Drama Series.

This was not the first time that 'GoT' had entered the race of Emmys. To date, the HBO series has been nominated 161 times and won 47 Emmys.