Maisie, who joined the show when she was 11 years old to play the character of Arya, revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that she thought the scene was a joke when she was first given the script, after similar ‘tricks’ had been played on other cast mates, including Kit Harington.
The 22-year-old actress explained that she discovered the news that Arya would sleep with Gendry the night before the battle against the White Walkers from her friend and co-star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) who had read the script quicker than her.
“At first, I thought it was a prank,” she said. “I was like, ‘Yo, good one.’ And [they were] like, ‘No, we haven’t done that this year.’
Williams says when it came to filming the scene, the showrunners let her decide precisely how much to show. “David and Dan were like: ‘You can show as much or as little as you want,’” Williams says. “So I kept myself pretty private. I don’t think it’s important for Arya to flash. This beat isn’t really about that. And everybody else has already done it on the show, so… “
Arya is 18, but some were unaware with one viewer tweeting: “I sure hope Arya was of age.”
Ahead of the episode, titled 'Knight of the Seven Kingdoms', HBO seemed to predict this particular issue. Its official Twitter account posted a message highlighting the fact she’s 18.