Two Weeks To Live
After saying goodbye to Westeros, MAISIE WILLIAMS is back on TV. Empire drops in on her “survivalist comedy”
WHY? To visit the set of Maisie Williams’ first TV outing, post-game Of Thrones. She made her name for ten years as the heroic, kick-ass Arya Stark, and some off the badassery of that character seems to linger here: Two Weeks To Live sees her as Kim, an imperilled combat-trained survivalist who has lived off the grid for most of her life, heading back into the real world to exact revenge on the gangster who killed her dad. It gets awkward.
WHO’S IN IT? Williams, naturally, plus Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, as her no-nonsense, F-word-loving survivalist mother, Tina. Taheen Modak, Mawaan Rizwan, Sean Pertwee, Jason Flemyng, Kerry Howard and Thalissa Teixeira are in the mix too.
WHAT DID WE SEE? How the other half live!
Today’s action takes place inside a £4.5 million mansion that looks more like a Californian beach house than a Home Counties suburban residence. Massive exterior lights flood the kitchen to offer some semblance of brightness as Tina aims a crossbow at brothers Nicky (Rizwan) and Jay (Modak), demanding to know, ”Which one of you fuckers is Nicky?” A shortlived Spartacus moment between the two lads earns a giggle, and later Kim stumbles into the scene with a hemp sack over her head and body, having been captured by her overzealous mum who wants Kim to return home.
IS THIS ARYA 2.0? Kim might be handy in a fight, but she’s still a fresh character for Williams to play with. “I think the cool-girl-whofights has been done before and with Kim she’s a bit of an idiot at times,” Williams says. “She’s like an alien who’s just landed: kind of ditzy, but with childlike wonder.”
WHAT ABOUT THE FIGHTING? The show will boast an epic fight scene, choreographed by Jo Mcclaren, that pays homage to Game Of Thrones. “I’ve never worked with a female stunt coordinator before,” Williams says. “She takes into consideration the difference in athleticism of men and women, the flexibility, the mobility. It was phenomenal.” Before adding: “I can do fist fights now.”
TWO WEEKS TO LIVE IS ON SKY ONE AND NOW TV THIS AUTUMN