Where do they find them? GoT has to have at least 4 or 5 child/young actors, and they’re all crazy good. How HBO does it, I have no clue, but I know at least that their casting directors deserve tons of kudos. So far, we’ve seen Hawkey, Hempstead-Wright, Turner, and a bunch of other, less important characters. I think it’s about time we tackle the best of them all.
Arya Stark. A very likeable character, to be sure (definitely in my top 5-10 or so, where the books are concerned), but not one with a whole lot of diverse and complex material. All in all, she’s pretty straightforward: she’s stubborn, headstrong, courageous, a bit bratty on the side, mature beyond her years at times, yet pretty childish most of the time. It must be really fun to play this character, but you don’t really get much of the angsty/tormented/complex stuff that usually gives you an Emmy or critical praise. The fact that Arya is remembered so well and liked by pretty much everyone, doubled with the praise her actress got from viewers and critics alike, is a testament to Williams’ skill. She doesn’t have quite enough material to compete with Allen, Headey or even Turner... and yet she does. Very impressive.
What I like most about her performance, I’d say, is how real it seems. I don’t know Williams much, but every time I see Arya in a scene, I absolutely can’t help but feel that she’s not playing a character. She’s just Arya. It’s as if she’s not even trying. Even when she’s not doing anything relevant – cleaning stuff by the river along with Hot Pie, Lem and Gendry in EP2 – she has this glint in her eye that seems entirely genuine. And that’s surely after 26 cuts of the same damn scene – how she still manages to have this genuine glint over that is beyond me.
Other actors on the top tier were also, of course, exceedingly good. Despite all that, though, you always had the sense that they were working on their emotions, presence, little gestures. The little side glare that Headey/Cersei gave back in EP1 that I’ve been heaping so much praise on? It’s awesome, but she obviously worked on it. The small, nervous posture of Allen/Theon during his little talk with Bran right after he took Winterfell? An inspired choice... but still a choice – something he practiced and practiced until he got it just right.
With Williams, though, she doesn’t seem to be even trying. She’s got little gestures of her own – very small stuff: for instance the shrug she gives to Gendry as he swings his sword around, trying to appear cool, detached and knowledgeable about swordplay (while still basically just repeating Syrio’s teachings). That shows us a lot about her character, and hints at potential developments between the two in the future. Thing is, it’s perfectly downplayed and casual: nothing like the “Yo, I’ve been looking at you for all of ten seconds but I’m deeply infatuated with you” stuff Robb gave us. It’s more like she doesn’t even know she likes Gendry, but still unconsciously wants to act detached and, well, cool in these few scenes. Aww. My point is that here again, she does that while seemingly not even trying.
(cont'd in next post)
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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore