Maisie Williams opens up about 'traumatic' relationship with father

Maisie Williams appeared on The Diary Of A CEO podcast, where she opened up about her 'traumatic' relationship with her father in childhood. The 25-year old actress shared an incredibly and emotional conversation with host Steven Bartlett about her childhood, mental health and Game of Thrones.

She revealed how this relationship with her dad "consumed a lot of [her] childhood," specifically the first eight years of her life. "I would look around at other kids and think, 'why don't they seem to understand this pain or dread or fear? When does the joy come for me?'" she explained.

Even after her mother "escaped" her father, her mental health was far from perfect. "When that period of my life ended I imagined everything is up from here, everything's perfect. Now I'm free. And then at different stages in life you realise there's never an end destination for that freedom," she emotionally explained.

Williams began her acting career at just 11 years old on hit series Game of Thrones, which she acted in as Arya Stark for its entire eight season run. Although her extreme success came with positives, she has spoken about continuing to struggle even during that time. "I get to access all of that confusion and pain in my job and really feel it in every fibre of my being. It's all pretend, but the emotion is real. It all just came to the surface," she said.

Acting was something that helped get her through hard times, as she stressed the importance of art. "Expression through art and channeling creativity, I want for that to contribute to making the world a better place," she said.

Williams has continued to act since the end of Game of Thrones in 2019, recently appearing in Disney+ series Pistol.

Watch the full interview below.