‘Game Of Thrones’: Maisie Williams’ Bond With Rory McCann

As they fight and gripe their way through Westeros, Arya and The Hound have prompted many fans to wish for a “Game of Thrones” spinoff featuring Arya Stark and The Hound.

The pairing of Maisie Williams’ Arya and Rory McCann’s The Hound, is not only intriguing, but utterly delightful to watch. And off screen, the two actors have formed a friendship.

“She’s amazing,” Rory previously told Access Hollywood of his teenage co-star. “We have great fun. … I really respect her.”

PHOTOS: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 4 — Even More Pics!

And Maisie also sang Rory’s praises when we interviewed her. But first, she shared a little tease at what’s ahead now that Arya has made her first kill (knocking Polliver off her list in the show’s Season 4 premiere).

AccessHollywood.com: What can you hint at about what’s next with Arya and The Hound? Are they going to constantly be getting into scrapes, following the Polliver/chickens incident?
Maisie Williams: The hint would be there are more people that are gonna get crossed off the list. … That’s kind of the biggest hint I can give and more of that — this new Arya. We’ve now introduced this new Arya. It’s not like she’s lost at all, she’s just completely grown and is now much better — doing much better off.

READ: ‘Game Of Thrones’ — Maisie Williams On Arya’s Polliver Encounter (Part 1)

Access: She was nice around Gendry.
Maisie:
Yeah.

Access: And even Jaqen.
Maisie:
They all softened her. That’s the thing. I think she realizes that actually, they were great and… she learned a lot, but they weren’t effective, if you understand what I mean. … Saying the names is great, but I haven’t actually killed anyone yet. And with The Hound, brutality kills, do you know what I mean?

Access: Tell me what it’s like working with Rory McCann who plays Sandor Clegane/The Hound. He seems really interesting. He once told me in an interview that he lived in a place you had to row a boat to get to.
Maisie: He lived in this bunker for a while and he’s got a boat and then he also sometimes just camps out in the woods. He’s the coolest guy ever. We chat, and sometimes… when he goes out camping and stuff, he hears noises and he gets scared. When he told me that story, I just cried laughing.

Access: About this giant man getting scared?
Maisie: Yeah, exactly and I was making these weird noises, I was going like, ‘Hsssggggrrrrrrr!’ like that.

Access: Does he talk to you normally, even though you’re younger than he is?
Maisie:
Yeah, and he doesn’t have kids either, so this relationship between Maisie and Rory could have turned out completely different, but we’re just like hanging out all the time, just like sat on the floor between takes.

Access: Has he taught you anything? I know he used to play songs on set.
Maisie: He gave me his strumstick at the end of last season.

Access: A strumstick?
Maisie:
It’s a guitar thing with three strings that’s really skinny and long and it’s all tuned to a G chord and you can’t play a wrong note on it, so you can just like strum around. … He showed me it and I really, really liked it and then he gave it to me at the end of last year. So then, when I was back at home, I taught myself a few songs, and I came back and I played them to him. And I like did this little song — Jason Mraz, ‘I Won’t Give Up’ — and just sang that for him in one of the rehearsals for the stunts and it’s so funny, all these big, beefy stunt guys, all sat around, and like Rory. And just me like [sings], ‘I won’t give up, on… us.’ So embarrassing.

Access: Awww… They should just deal with it and learn to like pop music.
Maisie: Exactly and sometimes on set, like they’re [doing] really guy things and then I’ll come out with something like ‘Oh! That take, I got a splinter in my hands,’ and they’re like, ‘Ahhh. Oh my God, Maisie. You’re such a girl.’ (laughs). Just every now and then I’ll come out with something, and it’s just like, ‘Why did I say that.’

Access: You know what though? Own it.
Maisie: Own it. I have them all wrapped around my little finger (laughs). I’m totally joking.

“Game of Thrones” Season 4 continues Sunday nights at 9 PM ET/PT on HBO.

Jolie Lash

Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More

Benji Gregory, 'ALF' Child Star, Found Dead In His Car Of Suspected Heatstroke At 46