In last summer’s Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, Arya went a bit rogue, killing Meryn Trant for her own reasons. The action led to disapproval from those in the House of Black and White, and she was struck blind to teach her a lesson. If you are familiar with the novels, you may know that the blindness is a key portion of Arya’s training, which means she’s had to wear awful painted contacts while shooting Season 6. As it turns out, however, not being able to see is the best way to pretend to be blind. Although actress Maisie Williams said in a recent interview that the eyewear has been painful, she’s actually come to love the contacts. Here’s why:
Pretending to be blind is much easier when you actually can’t see anything. So I did actually love them.
Acting can always be difficult, especially if a character you have known for years is going in a totally new direction for the upcoming season, so it’s probably helpful that Maisie Williams had a device like the contacts to remind her that her character was totally blind. Still, Maisie Williams also revealed to Vulture that filming Season 6 hasn’t been all fun and games. As noted prior, the contacts are extremely painful.
I was so confident at the end of the last [season], like, Oh, [wearing them] was fine, I can’t wait, but it’s been actually a bit of a task. They’re very painful, they’re like huge and they’re very thick.
Apparently, a lot of Game of Thrones actors have had an unpleasant time with their eyes while shooting an episode of HBO’s fantasy drama. In fact, Jack Gleason, who played Joffrey on the hit series, explained a couple of years ago that someone physically had to hold his eyes open during the filming of his post-death memorial scene. Granted, one rough scene is probably not as bad as having to wear contacts for days on end, so Williams has every right to be a little disgruntled about what her role will entail this season.
So, obviously, shooting Game of Thrones isn’t always fun and games. Still, I like that the plucky Doctor Who and Game of Thrones actress is choosing to put a positive spin on the ordeal that was filming the new season, and hopefully she didn’t have to wear those contacts for long.
We won’t have too much longer to wait to find out. Game of Thrones is expected to return to the schedule on Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET. If you want to know more about the upcoming episodes, be sure to check out what we know about the upcoming season. And you can check out what other shows are coming up at midseason, here.
