Maisie Williams says working on 'Doctor Who' was a 'joy'

LONDON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Maisie Williams was happy to guest star on Doctor Who season 9.

The 18-year-old English actress discussed her forthcoming role on the BBC series in an interview with Radio Times. Williams told the magazine it was a "joy" to work on the sci-fi program after coming across poorly written female characters in other projects.

"I didn't realize when I was younger that women were written so badly," she said. "But going further into this career I realized there are a lot of really bad characters, that it's not common to come across females who aren't just 'the girlfriend.'"

"You can't pick and choose everything, but I hope to never have to play a character that is only there to benefit a male lead," she added.

Williams will play the Viking girl Ashildr on episodes 5 and 6, "The Girl Who Died" and "The Woman Who Lived," respectively. Digital Spy reports the first will see the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) visit a Viking village and appear to recognize the actress' character.

Williams is best known for playing Arya Stark on HBO series Game of Thrones, and accepted a Guinness World Record on the show's behalf in August. The teenager is scheduled for an adaptation of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, in addition to The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea with Jason Sudeikis.