Arya and Bran Stark actors on growing up on the "Game of Thrones" set
Anderson Cooper speaks with Maisie Williams and Isaac Hempstead Wright, who play Arya and Bran Stark on "Game of Thrones." Below is a transcript.
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Anderson Cooper: Did either of you have any idea when you signed onto this how big it was gonna get?
BOTH: No.
Maisie Williams: No. I-- I didn't even know what HBO was.
Isaac Hempstead Wright: Yeah.
Anderson Cooper: You-- you had-- you hadn't heard of HBO?
Maisie Williams: No, I had to Google that. And then we were like, a Home Box Office call. What's that? Is it (LAUGH) gonna be on the BBC? Had no idea. Like, we could see the scale was gonna be big, but I mean, we knew nothing about movie-making or anything like that. So--
Anderson Cooper: Had you been in something in acting before? I mean, had you--
Maisie Williams: No.
Anderson Cooper: No?
Maisie Williams: I didn't even wanna be an (LAUGH) actor. I wanted to be a dancer. And then through, you know, the avenues of, like, meetings, of scouts in that field, I found an agent, my second audition was for "Game of Thrones" and then it all just--
Anderson Cooper: There are actors all over the world right now listening to that, screaming.
Maisie Williams: Yeah--
Anderson Cooper: 'Cause it seems like there's a lot of people who this was, like, their first audition-- and they got it.
Isaac Hempstead Wright: I mean, we were really-- definitely, like, a lot of it was in the right place at the right time.
Anderson Cooper: You had never been in anything before either--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: Nope. No, I think I'd done, like, an advert for something. And I can remember getting so excited when that came on the TV. I was, like, calling everyone up, going, look, I was there for three seconds. (LAUGHTER) It was actually highly ironic 'cause I use-- I used to go to a football club the weekends and I found it too cold. So, I was like, what else can I do? I'll go to drama club. And I ended up spending nine years in the freezing cold in Belfast. (LAUGHTER) But yeah, I don't think-- I-- I can remember George R.R. Martin-- chatting to us when we were filming the pilot, kinda going-- you know, don't get your hopes up. These things seldom, you know, actually become a series
Anderson Cooper: How old were each of you when you started? You were 12?
Maisie Williams: Twelve and--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: I was ten.
Anderson Cooper: Did you-- I mean, at ten, your-- I mean, obviously the scene that a lotta people will remember is, you know, you climbing the tower seeing a brother and sister having sex with each other and then you get pushed off the tower.
Isaac Hempstead Wright: Yeah. I-- I loved it. (LAUGH) It was great fun. It was like--
Anderson Cooper: It's pretty intense for a ten-year-old--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: I know. But I mean, I think when you're doing it, it's not that inte-- I mean, obviously I wasn't there watching this sex going on. It was all kind of shielded from me. But getting to climb and do stunts and get pushed out a window was, like, a ten-year-old's dream. I loved it. Like--
Anderson Cooper: You-- you didn't find it disturbing that somebody was tryin' to kill you--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: Not at all, 'cause it's-- you know, you're spending the whole day on set and you're having fun. And it's not, like, some scary, horrible scenario-- like the way it plays out on screen.
Maisie Williams: Yeah.
Anderson Cooper: Did you see it afterward? I mean, once it was-- did you-- or were you allowed to look at the actual--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: I think I-- I-- yeah, I think I just-- I was-- I found it really cool. I was like, oh, look, it looks like I just got pushed out a tower. (LAUGHTER) Yeah. 'Cause it was all so fresh and new, it was basically like getting to go and go on some cool summer camp; like, horse riding, archery lessons, climbing.
Maisie Williams: Running around in the mud and dirt--
Isaac Hempstead Wright: Running in the mud.
The video above was edited by Will Croxton.