Maisie Williams Used Nude Scenes In ‘Pistol’ To “Make Other People Feel Uncomfortable”

When the Hulu limited series Pistol arrives in May, Maisie Williams will be showing a side of herself that remained hidden on Game of Thrones. The actress, who played Arya Stark on the HBO show, will appear in the series about the British punk band the Sex Pistols, as Jordan Mooney, a friend of the band, though she was hesitant to take the role due to the nudity involved.

In an interview with GQ, Williams described her audition for the role of Mooney, who worked at London’s SEX boutique, the store where the Pistols was formed, and who is credited with helping to popularize the late ’70s London punk aesthetic. Part of that aesthetic involved a heavy amount of nudity, as Mooney was a fan of wearing little to cover her breasts. To play the role, Williams recalled that the casting directors warned her that the role would require “a lot of nudity,” which caused some concern. “I want to be in this show because I’m the best person to do this, not because I’m the only girl who’ll take her top off,” she said, though after voicing her concerns, she said that the director Danny Boyle put her at ease and made her realize, “Jordan was a political statement. Her entire ethos was turning the male gaze in on itself, and it was overtly sexual in a way that made other people feel ashamed.”

“If I take my top off,” she said, “I want to make other people feel uncomfortable.” (She told the magazine that for her callback for the film, she appeared via Zoom in a sheer top that exposed her breasts.) The real-life Jordan Mooney, who only just passed away on April 3, was on-set as a consultant for the film, and seemed to approved of the casting, telling GQ, “Maisie is somebody who never really wants to be encompassed by security. She wanted to push it all to the limit.”

The series co-stars Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen, and Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, the band’s guitarist, whose memoir serves as the foundation for the show. Pistol will premiere on Hulu on May 31.