‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Maisie Williams Takes On A Real Life Crusade

While she has a break from filming Game of Thrones, up and coming star Maisie Williams is using her time to pursue another worthwhile endeavor. On Game of Thrones, Williams’ Arya Stark takes on the agenda of seeking retribution for the crimes committed against her family and, in a similar war, Maisie is now taking action to stop the injustices committed against wildlife. Specifically, Maisie is using her celebrity status to bring attention to the suffering of captive dolphins, urging people to stop attending public dolphin shows and calling for commercial aquariums to set their dolphins free.

Game Of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams Urges An End To Dolphin Captivity

NME reports that Maisie Williams is acting as a global ambassador for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, an organization which hopes to bring an end to dolphin captivity. Williams joined O’Barry in the small fishing town of Taiji, Japan, because the village is well known for regularly staging dolphin hunts, resulting in captured dolphins being sold to aquariums and shows. Dolphins not sold are used for their meat.

While visiting the Japanese village, Maisie also conducted a press conference via instant messenger in the hopes of spreading her message beyond Taiji’s shores.

“These animals travel the ocean. That’s what they explore daily. No tank will be big enough,” said the Game of Thrones actress. “No tank will ever be deep enough, ever be exciting enough.”

In explaining why she has taken up this cause in particular, Maisie says the issue of dolphin captivity struck a chord with her and she felt a need to do something to bring about change. Williams adds that she believes people should stand up for their beliefs and, with more and more people speaking out against injustice, she hopes the world will soon be a better place.

While the Dolphin Project was visiting Taiji, Ms. Williams took a moment to stress that she was by no means trying to single out the community or draw negative attention to any specific area or group of people. Williams says it’s a global problem.

“It’s not an attack on Japan at all, or on Taiji, or the people of Taiji,” the Game of Thrones star said. “I want to say, honestly, hand on heart, that this is not an attack on anyone in specific.”

Maisie Williams Calls For An End To Social Media Bullying

Game of Thrones made Maisie Williams a beloved celebrity, but long before success, she was just an average high school student and, as she reveals to People magazine, Maisie was also a victim of bullying. In speaking about it, Williams says there was nothing special about her and anyone can become “the bullied” in any given situation.

“It can happen to absolutely anybody,” says Maisie. “And I wanted to get that across and let young girls know that you shouldn’t feel different for being bullied and you shouldn’t feel singled out.”

Williams admits she didn’t care for high school because, other than her classes and her circle of friends, school was a bad experience for her, especially once she fell prey to the school’s bullies. She points out that there’s just no reason for bullying, not in school or on the web. Maisie says only one thing determines bullying: mean people.

“People say, ‘Oh, that’s so strange that you got bullied,'” she shares. “And I’m like, ‘It’s so strange that anyone gets bullied.'”

The Game of Thrones star says it’s not all hopeless, however. She says it excites her to see the changes in her generation, as they use social media to confront all forms of injustice.

“We are the most developed generation? in terms of talking about difficult subjects, homophobia, and sexuality, and racial issues. That’s what I love about us.”

Maisie says she would like to see change happen faster and that can only happen if more people will open their eyes to the ills of the world. She points out that most people aren’t to blame for what is wrong with the world, but they are capable of changing it.

“[I would] love for people to wake up one morning and be more accepting,” said Maisie Williams. “Wake up and not just turn a blind eye to what’s going on in the world, and wake up and want to make a change.”

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]