What is it to say goodbye to the show that has made your careers?
Sophie: There were multiple dinners with the friends we have made over the last season. It’s still happening and when we’re at the premiere again, there’ll be plenty more. You can’t just do one dinner and one party to end it. It’s a long process for us to wean ourselves off Game of Thrones! Normally everyone’s tired of each other. We haven’t had any fallouts. But I think we will stay in touch forever. Especially the people who started out together: Maisie, Kit, Alfie, Emilia.
Maisie: We’re all so close. Adding to what Sophie said, dinners are still happening. It’s actually just been really lovely. For Sophie and me, it was our first gig, really exciting but the established actors have always, always been really lovely. It will be interesting to see how we stay in touch.
WATCH EPISODE 3:
When you received the scripts for the final season, did they come in some sort of self-destructing box?
Sophie: It was a self-destructing app. It all goes away after 24 hours or something like that. All the secrecy is something you have to come to terms with. I remember having a little braid and the hair and makeup team would be like, “You cannot leave with that braid in your hair. We have to take it out.” Because people will read into it and find some spoilers with just a braid. It’s crazy.
Maisie: We’re usually pretty good. There’ve been some photos that we’ve posted that are a little spoilery but it’s not terrible things. It’s not like an episode being leaked out. But the more things get leaked, it makes us more nervous for sure. And the fans...they just are so hungry for the show. They’ve been waiting so long.
When you look back on the series how has it changed?
Sophie: The scene that changed how I saw the show was first season Episode 9, Ned’s death and it was just like, “It’s not going to be that kind of show. It’s going to be this kind of show.” For my character, the scene where she kills Ramsay was like, “That’s Sansa.”
Maisie: I just think in these final seasons all of the women have started to really come into their own. One, that’s not very predictable. Two, it just makes a lot of sense. When you read into the show and you read into their storylines and how people have been playing the game. The five women on top really deserved to be there. That was something that we’d hoped for but the fact that the show’s really going that way is just so powerful.
How did the group read through of the whole final series go?
Sophie: We’ve had read-throughs before and not everyone would show up. [But this time] Everyone was there. It was very emotional. And I think Kit was reading it for the first time at the read-through. You could just hear him in every scene him let out a gasp. That was funny.
What was your wrap day like?
Maisie: The show has always been worth it and that everyone was like a family to us. Everyone was pretty emotional by that point, having watched everyone wrap. That was like, “I’m going to keep it brief. You’ve heard a lot.”
Sophie: My final scene was after a long stretch. We were shooting this scene in Spain. Everyone else could have an ice vest on except me because my costume is so tight. I was just begging for them to call wrap. Then they called it and they made this speech and I just burst into tears and I was like inconsolable for hours and hours and hours after. I was just a wreck. Game of Thrones Season 8 showcases on Star World