Nell Williams On Playing Young Cersei

Game of Thrones is a show with a multi-generational cast, from Grand Dames of the BBC like Diana Rigg as Grandmother Olenna, to the youngest Stark, Rickon, played by the adorable Art Parkinson. But up until this season, we’ve never had a character shown at two different ages. The choice to open the season with a flashback to a moment in the life of Young Cersei was a bold move for the show, which had previously avoided flashbacks, memories, and in-depth stories about recent history.

Nell Williams, whose part was originally obscured in the casting call as “Imogen,” (though most of us saw through that right away) knew from the start that she was auditioning for Young Cersei. She told MTV news that she tried to read the books to prepare “to no avail.” She did, however, study Lena Headey’s performance over the last four seasons and conceptualize what Cersei must have been like back when she was the age Tommen is now.

“I got the accent quite quickly, but what was quite difficult was finding out what made her her,” Williams explained. “She’s obviously very nasty; extremely nasty. Because I was playing her when she was younger — she couldn’t always be horrible. She could be a bit stuck up when she’s younger, but I think the importance of this scene is making sure the audience knows how she became the person she is. And that was really interesting to do. So I just had to find out as much as I possibly could about her.”

Williams was also overawed by the size and scale of the production. We all know it’s the biggest show in the world, but hearing someone say that is very different from being confronted with warehouse after warehouse after warehouse.

“You go inside, and they’re filled to the brim with props of like, dead people’s heads. It’s all weird things in these warehouses. There were horses in one… It was very, very easy to slip into the imaginary world that you have to put yourself in, just because the props and everything are so realistic. It’s really weird.”

“[The dress] was so heavy, and it was boiling as well in the studio,” Williams said. “There were all these massive lights on because they had to get the lighting right, and there was also a fire in the hut. With all of that and like 30 people in one room trying to film, it got really hot so quickly, and the costumes were down to the floor with loads of layers. So it was boiling, and also really difficult to go to the loo because you have all these massive skirts and everything. But it was definitely worth it.”

The dress certainly was worth it. A perfect mash up of the “southern style” dresses that were popular in King’s Landing in the first season and Cersei’s signature silhouette with the huge bell sleeves and metal belt, Young Cersei was visually a slam dunk, as was William’s performance.

• Published on 04/17/2015 at 8:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT