Game of Thrones Star Maisie Williams Shares Swimsuit Photo "Feeling Very Woman"

1. Meditation For Anxiety

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Williams is learning to manage her anxieties as she gets older. “I definitely am trying to manage my worries and anxieties and combat a lot of things with rationality and evidence,” she says. “But when you are a panic prone person, that’s just like the battle of overcoming your mental illness. I try and meditate a lot. I meditate every night before I go to bed because otherwise I can’t sleep… So it’s just a lot of combating things with calmness and with reality. And the thing I think I’ve learned the most this year is being able to be empathetic.”

2. Action Vs Romance

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Williams wants to move away from action roles and try something more introspective. “I’m interested less in that and more in something like Blue Valentine, where it’s a very intense relationship, whether that’s romantic or just friendship or whatever, and it’s just very rooted within now,” she says. “You just see two flawed people who are trying to navigate the world together — less physically draining and more emotionally draining, I guess.”

3. Strong Women

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Williams is happy different types of strength are being portrayed for women. “I think that there’s so much strength in women who aren’t the typically masculine view of powerful,” she says. “I think this is something that Taylor Swift and Lana del Rey speak about all the time… So many of the women I’ve played have been overly masculine and they’ve been applauded for that, but there’s also a strength in a woman who isn’t shouting and screaming; a woman who is incredibly vulnerable and is just in some ways more complex. There’s a part of myself which is like that too, and I really try and learn about that. I’m very sensitive to my own emotions but also to other people’s, so the thought of creating a story between two people where there’s so many questions to be answered, that just really interests me.”

4. Unique Beauty

Williams wants to represent a different type of beauty. “It’s only now I’m starting to realize the characters that are available to me because of the way I look and the characters that aren’t available to me,” she says. “It’s a very shallow industry. And I don’t look like someone who is cast in roles that are, well, sexualised. Don’t get me wrong. I’m completely in awe of Hollywood’s leading ladies. I love looking at those totally jaw-droppingly beautiful women. But I think it’s sad that you only get to see one type of beautiful on screen.”

5. Living With Sensitivity

Williams is trying to balance her sensitivity with boundaries. “I think the most painful thing is when I carry so much for other people,” she says. “Like, I’m learning that you can be aware of someone’s feelings and help them, but you don’t have to take responsibility for them. You don’t have to hold this weight for them. Ultimately that’s their journey and there’s nothing you can do which will change that. People have to change things for themselves. Learning to not take the responsibility for other people’s emotions really does set you free.”