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.

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.

Has there been any talk about doing more School of Thrones episodes after these three?

Yeah. I don’t know anything specifically, but I have heard them mention it in other interviews. Obviously the first episode just blew up and got so much press, so I think that is a possibility. I don’t know much about it or where the story would go. I feel like these three episodes are fairly self-contained, but obviously the realm of Game of Thrones is huge and there’s so much they could do with that. We’ll see. I don’t know anything for sure, but they have certainly talked about it.

And you would happily go back and do more?

Yeah! It was a really fun group to work with. Everybody was really silly and gets along really well. I’m really happy that it looks great, and people have really responded to it mostly positively – obviously some people hate it as you always will get with something that has a really rabid fan base like that. I love that it has opened me up to a new audience that’s different from the LBD audience, but there is a lot of crossover. It’s cool, it has definitely been positive.

What was your experience with Game of Thrones before this? Have you read the books?

I haven’t, I’m so embarrassed. I first found out about this in December I think, and I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to read the books over Christmas, I’m going to do it,” – no. Not at all. Obviously my priority during that time was Lizzie Bennet, and I don’t regret that. I really was spending most of my brain space on that.

If the show continues I probably will give them a go because I love Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings is my favourite thing. I’m no stranger to lengthy fantasy novels, I just haven’t had time yet. I have seen some of the show, I’m not all caught up on it. A lot of my friends really love Game of Thrones so I feel like I know a lot of what happens without having seen everything. I know all of the spoilers. I definitely want to do that and I want to get caught back up on everything.

The reason I kind of had trouble with the show, this is embarrassing, is that it’s so violent and that was kind of hard for me to stomach a little bit. I thought that if I read the books first and knew what was coming, it might be a little easier for me to deal with, so I held off, hoping that I would read the books first but that hasn’t happened. I like it, and I know so many people love it and so many of my friends love it, so it’s definitely something I want to get more into.

Do you have a favourite character?

I would probably say Dany is my favourite. She is so badass. And Emilia Clarke really does a great job as her.

Do you see any similarities between Sansa and Lydia?

Well yeah, I don’t really sit down and think, “Let me compare my characters.” Obviously there is very much a pressure and desire to be something, to be a certain way. Lydia really wants to be loved, and Sansa wants – at least in our show – she wants to assert herself and have the status she has with Joffrey. So there’s absolutely similarities but that’s just a very common, human thing, the desire to feel validated in one way or another.

And they both pick guys that are maybe not the best for them.

Yes! That’s funny, I didn’t even think of that. Everybody always brings that up and it didn’t even come to my mind. I guess I just play characters that have really poor choices in dudes, because there’s Zelda [Wiles’ character in Squaresville] as well. It’s not something that I even realized, I think because all of this is happening at once, all the shows are out at the same time and everybody is like, “What’s wrong with your characters?” and I think, “Okay next time, I can’t do this. I have to play something different,” because my characters aren’t very smart about the boys they date I guess.

Can you give us any hints for the last episode?

Well it’s prom. My costume in particular is pretty fantastic. It’s like a poofy cupcake. When they showed it to me I was like, “Oh, my gosh.” So yeah, it’s prom, it’s going to be really fun to see those characters in that environment, and Joey [Richter, plays Theon] of course is still in a speedo. I don’t know how they come up with that, but it’s going to be fun, I am excited for it. I haven’t seen the episodes until they’ve aired so it has been a ride for me as well, to see them as they come out.

Are you aware that there are a lot of fans who ship Sansa and Sandor? Will we see any mention of that?

There is a moment. We tip our hats to that.

School of Thrones episode 3 airs on 24 March at 12pm PST.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will end with episode 100 on 28 March at 9am PST.
Squaresville episode 21 airs on 29 March.

In part 2: Mary Kate talks ‘Squaresville’ season 2 and answers your twitter questions

Image credits: School of Thrones