Hypable speaks exclusively to Mary Kate Wiles about her role on Game of Thrones parody series School of Thrones, the end of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and more.
School of Thrones and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are almost over, so what better time to sit down with the star of the show(s), Mary Kate Wiles. Wiles, who plays Sansa Stark on the viral Game of Thrones parody series, and Lydia Bennet in the modern Pride and Prejudice adaptation, took some time to speak to us about her feelings regarding the end of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, what we can expect in the School of Thrones finale, and more.
We also spoke to Mary Kate Wiles back in February about Lydia’s controversial sex-tape story line on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Read part one and part two of that interview now. Wiles was also a fan favourite to play Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars movie. Read her response to Shailene Woodley being cast in that role.
Hypable’s interview with Mary Kate Wiles:
Hypable: Last time we spoke, you were in the middle of one of the most controversial aspects of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and now the series is wrapped. How do you feel about it all now that it’s (almost) finished?
Mary Kate Wiles: I don’t know. It hasn’t quite hit me that it’s done. I think it’s going to take some time to process that and I believe we as a cast are going to be doing a few more things together, so it’s going to continue a little bit. But it’s definitely weird. It’s hard to view it objectively now, because there’s still some episodes to come and still a few more things that haven’t completely ended yet, but I couldn’t be prouder.
It’s going to be really sad to leave that character behind, but I’m so proud of what we did and really happy that I got that opportunity, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. When I shot my last episode a couple weeks ago, I finished right before lunch, and they were like, “Okay, we got it,” and I just sat there next to Ashley and just started crying, and we just held each other. Like I said, it’s something that will be with me forever, and I haven’t really quite comprehended what that feels like now.
Well I’ve been on a personal campaign for more Lydia videos.
Oh, I appreciate that.
Are we going to see any more?
I don’t know. I definitely appreciate that. There are things that I would love to be able to wrap up in terms of her story, that as of now are not. A lot of people have been very supportive about that idea, so I hope that is something we get to do. It’s not up to me unfortunately, but it’s something I am very much in favour of. Hopefully we will. It definitely helps – I’m glad that you guys seem to want that, it is encouraging.
@thegwickham remember everything you told me when we watched the sunrise? this isn’t you. i know you. i believe in you. please george
— Lydia Bennet (@TheLydiaBennet) February 6, 2013
I know that you’re not directly involved with this, but do you know if there’s going to be any followup on the transmedia side for Lydia? Because at the moment her twitter is sitting there, it’s very depressing.
I just looked at it the other day, I tweeted that, “Oh, that’s the last tweet that she made.” I have no idea about that, that’s really not me. I guess in the case that she does end up vlogging more she probably will have some tweets because she’ll be tweeting out those videos if that happens. But I don’t know where that’s going to end. Like I said, I would really like to see a conclusion for her for that, and I think a lot of people will as well. I can’t really say what that would be, or what I would hope that would be, but hopefully we get a little more.
Closure.
Yeah, I would like to see that for her.
School of Thrones is the second time that you have played a fairly iconic literary character, you’re making a habit of it. How was the experience different with Sansa?
It’s different in so many ways. Obviously Lydia has been this ongoing thing for quite a while, and has been something that has been very close to me in a way I never expected. Not that Sansa isn’t, but we have only shot 3 episodes. The scope is just completely different. In both cases, I just came into like, “Oh, okay, whatever, I’ll do this thing, this sounds fun.”
I can’t say that I had super strong feelings about either of those characters beforehand, which is kind of good and kind of fun to let the experience shape how I feel about them. In the same way, both of these characters are literary characters but they’re also specific to the project. LBD‘s Lydia is different to Pride and Prejudice‘s Lydia, and same with Sansa and School of Thrones, obviously the different settings and whatever make it a different story.
It’s challenging to meld those things and honour the original character, and also make it new and different and my own. It’s cool that people are giving me those opportunities and trusting me with that. It’s kind of nerve-racking at times, but it’s good.
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