Maisie Williams, a.k.a. Arya Stark, to play a cyberbullying victim

By Caitlin PenzeyMoog  |  September 18, 2014 | 5:58pm
Aux Features TV

On Game Of Thrones, Maisie Williams is a burgeoning assassin with a hit list and a deadly “Needle.” But now the 17-year-old actress will have to overcome the thoroughly modern threat of cyberbullying for a one-off, hour-long special called Cyber Bully coming next year from the U.K.’s Channel 4. Williams will play Casey Jacobs in what the press release is calling a “thriller;” her character will experience peer-to-peer bullying and advanced computer hacking. The film will take place in one location and happen in real time, with the focus on Williams throughout.

“I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role,” Director Ben Chanan says. “Maisie Williams is not only remarkably talented, she also has an immediately likable, feisty screen presence which makes you root for her instinctively.” Not to mention she’s associated with the total badassery of Arya Stark, hopefully helping breathe some life into what is a real issue for many young people.

“It is one of the most important purposes of Channel 4 to find new ways of engaging young audiences with the cyber world and the stories that play out on the Internet,” added Nick Mirsk, Channel 4’s head of documentaries. “This film does exactly that in a way that is gripping, relevant and fiercely public service.”

According to Channel 4, 69 percent of young people in the U.K. has experienced some form of cyberbullying. That’s a high number, although cyberbullying statistics vary dramatically depending on how studies are constructed. The fact that the story is referred to as a “thriller” implies, however, that the cyberbullying Williams faces in the movie will be more dramatic than that faced by the bulk of victims.

 
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