I was famous when I was 12... that makes you feel really weird
Two Weeks To Live is Maisie Williams’ first TV show since Game of Thrones. GEORGIA HUMPHREYS learns why the star can relate to her character’s very unusual childhood
AT THE centre of the new Sky One series Two Weeks To Live is a young misfit called Kim. Taking on the role is Bristolian Maisie Williams, 23, famous the world over for playing Arya Stark in HBO series Game of Thrones, which she starred in from 2011 to 2019.
Asked whether there was a time when she herself has ever felt like a misfit, Maisie doesn’t hesitate to bring up being a child star.
“You know, I was famous when I was 12 years old, and that makes you feel really weird!” she says, laughing.
Comedy drama Two Weeks To Live is very different to Game of Thrones – and, indeed, anything else on our screens right now. We learn Kim was just a little girl when her father died in murky circumstances, and has since lived a remote rural life with her survivalist mother, Tina (Fleabag’s Sian Clifford).
Now all grown up, she takes on a secret mission to honour her father’s memory – but has no idea the danger and chaos that awaits (clue: it involves Kim, Tina, and new pals Nicky (Mawaan Rizwan) and Jay (Taheen Modak), on the run from murderous gangsters and the police).
Luckily, though, Kim has some incredible skills up her sleeve. Here, we find out more from stellar cast members Maisie, Mawaan and Taheen.
STAND-OUT STORY
MAISIE first read the script for Two Weeks To Live – written by Gaby Hull, who was behind ITV’s Cheat – a few years ago when it was a film, not a TV show.
“I thought the context of the world coming to an end and the fear of that was really intriguing; it triggers people’s fight or flight. To see how people react is interesting, especially with Kim,” notes the star.
“Now the world around us has changed, it’s become something which is very topical. We just couldn’t have predicted that way back then.”
Taheen, who’s a relative newcomer (but you might recognise him from ITV drama The Bay), jumped at the chance of a major TV role – especially when he saw the cast involved.
“I would have been an idiot to turn down such an opportunity,” he says.
“And then, they’re just such short, fun episodes. They’re packed with so much emotion and comedy and action, obviously – from Maisie’s side and Sian’s side specifically. And there was just a lot of fun, but it’s grounded in relationships, between the four of them.
“For me, it was the combination of quite relatable characters in quite extraordinary situations,” adds Mawaan on the appeal of the script. “Just seeing how these characters react in extreme situations, and the comedy that comes from that, I really enjoyed reading.”
Tina is very cutting, and Jay and Nicky are kind of these bumbling idiots that she gets to put down all the time... Maisie Williams outlines the dynamic of the dark comedy
ACTION PACKED
THIS is a stunt-filled series, and Maisie recalls a day on set when one scene went a bit wrong.
“We filmed it at night-time, so we were quite tired – and when you’re tired is when mistakes come.
“There’s this part where I kick
Sean P Pertwee t [who [ h plays l a villain] ill i ] in i the chest, and I caught him just in the chin and the lip and made him bleed. I felt really bad about that!”
Mawaan, a writer and comedian who started out making YouTube sketches jokes: “Nicky just screams a lot, bless him.
“There was a shootout car sequence... Maisie, I genuinely thought you were going to fall out the boot because you were literally hanging out the car!
“I don’t d ’t know k how h you were doing d i it. I was genuinely terrified. So, no acting on my part for that scene.”
FUNNY MOMENTS
AS well as plenty of action, there are laughs in store too.
“I’d say the comedy is pretty deadpan, slightly crude,” enthuses Maisie. “Tina is very cutting, and Jay and Nicky are kind of these bumbling idiots that she gets to put down all the time.”
She continues: “It’s such a good breakout role for Taheen. He absolutely smashed it; his delivery makes me laugh so much. There’s not a single element of these performances that I don’t enjoy on-screen.”
Taheen confides that he found the comedy “very challenging, especially in a dark comedy like this where you are trying not to tell jokes”.
“It’s almost like you have a sixth sense; you’re aware that there is a gag there but you’re trying to be deadly serious, you’re trying to be as honest and earnest as you can be, especially when you’re playing a character like Jay.
“A lot of the stuff he says is pretty absurd and people watching will know that, but you’ve got to play it straight and honest.”
GROWING UP
GAME Of Thrones fans should look out for a Westeros reference, too. “We just wanted to do a little nod [t [to Arya],” says Maisie. “That’s th the role I’m known for and h her most defining feature is h how she can fight so we wanted to add a little Easter Eegg.” Kim and Arya are both feisty characters for Williams to have on her CV, but she says what’s different is that “Kim is allowed to be a young woman and take her time to find her place in modern-day society and that’s something that Arya wouldn’t be able to comprehend”. “It does feel like an evolution for myself,” adds the young star, who next week will be on the big screen in comic book fantasy The New Mutants. “All of the wonderful things about Arya felt very familiar when playing Kim, but it’s nice to play someone who’s more my age, more feminine and gets some romance.” Talking of romance, Maisie teases more about Kim’s budding relationship with Nicky. “She’s watched a couple of movies and understands love stories even though the only films that she has seen are like Braveheart, which is quite a sad existence!” she elaborates. “She doesn’t have any of the shy, awkward, embarrassment that we often get when we engage with someone we are attracted to. I’ve always felt very forward in trying to say exactly what I mean, so it was really nice to play a character who does that.”
Two Weeks To Live is on Sky One, 10pm on Wednesday