'I've probably been asked 30,000 times, over and over' - Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams talks Jon Snow, career, family and dreams

She sighs and rolls her searing grey eyes. There's a beat of silence in the room.

"So," I ask slowly, "you know, now that we're on the subject… is Jon Snow dead?"

A slow curling smirk feeds into a winsome giggle. "You couldn't leave it alone, could you?"

Whether the brooding, tousle-haired Jon Snow, played by Game of Thrones favourite Kit Harington, is dead or alive after multiple stab wounds by the treacherous hands of his Watch brethren at the end of season five, was anyone's guess. And this week's season six opener didn't exactly put the matter to rest.

Whatever the outcome, it's been a clever game of pop culture conjecture, concocted by HBO showrunners. Up there with 'Who Shot JR?' it's kept devotees ravenous and needing throughout the yawning 10-month hiatus between seasons.

And while by far the most disputed and contested, it wasn't the only cliffhanger at the end of season five. Daenery's situation is looking potentially catastrophic, finding herself alone in front the Dothraki's Khal Moro.

And what about Arya? "Yeaaaah," Maisie cries, curling a shoulder-skimming lock behind her ear. "What about Arya? Forget about the rest of them."

The vengeance-fuelled Stark lost her sight as punishment for killing Ser Meryn Trant and taking a face from the House of Black and White without permission. [For the uninitiated, that's a big no-no].

What fate lies in wait for the warrior? "If Arya possesses one trait, it's her incredible strength of spirit and resolve. There's very little that can take her down.

"She's already lost so many members of her family, her life as she knew it was ripped away at such a young age. Arya is a survivalist. And this is something she's going to have to battle through, it will be her greatest test. Will she push through, will she fail? Trying to survive without your eyesight, pretty difficult."

That's the gritted beauty when interviewing a seasoned Thrones veteran - lots of fey statements offering little reveal but just enough to keep our appetites sated.

"I'm so glad we came to that conclusion, that climax, in the last season. I feel like people were saying, 'Why is Arya still sweeping floors, what's happening here?' Even I was thinking, 'What's going on here?' So I was happy when it built up to the betrayal.

"Now I feel like with this season, it's very jigsaw-like. Pieces are coming together, strands that you thought you'd never see intertwined are suddenly making sense. It's building towards something really big."

A series of Instagram selfies last summer with soothing gel packs under her eyes depicted a grim reality for the striking, elfin 18-year-old, thanks to Arya's new disability.

"Those damn blind contacts. They're really wide and quite thick, 16mm-thick, so I never got used to wearing them at all. They're really painful.

"But it's all been part of the challenge which I'm grateful for as an actress. I'm having to tap into my other senses. It's all part of a learning process. That's how I look at it."

It's three years since I first encountered Williams, a bushy-browed inquisitive adolescent, barely touched by the ravages of fame. Eager to entertain. All of five-feet tall. Absurdly assured, she possesses a hint of cockiness, intelligently combined with humble humour.

Today, that has matured towards an enticing candour, not to mention a fashion nous that has seen her hailed as a new style icon. And against the odds, despite her superstar stature, the self-effacement remains. She's as likeable as ever. Much like Arya.

Born in Bristol, the youngest of four children, she enrolled in a performing arts school in Bath. Dance was her initial passion. "I always wanted to be a dancer. Acting was definitely accidental. Dance, it was this immediate pull from a really young age."

At just 12 years old, she was offered the chance to audition for Arya. "It seems like a lifetime ago," she ponders.

"I was 12 and had no idea what I was letting myself in for and I didn't know what the show was going to become, no one did. I don't even think HBO predicted this. And then the first series got such a huge response…"

Celebrity came thick and fast. And Williams took it in her stride.

"Initially it was very mild in the sense, if you were in a restaurant or in a shop, there's the 'I thought it was you', and that sort of spreads and then I'd take some pictures and focus back on my friends, and then take more pictures and back to my family.

"But you know, it was nice at a young age having that power to make someone's day by simply saying 'Hi' and posing for a picture. And I'm not saying that in an 'up myself way'. It's the character they love and by me being nice and cooperative, that's a good thing."

But fame wasn't always a good thing. The trolls came out in force on social media taking vitriolic stabs at her appearance and actions. "I'd think, 'How do you think you can get away with saying this to me? What is wrong with you?'

Her school attendance was affected by filming commitments and at 15, she decided to quit before her GCSE exams. Opinion was rife.

"A lot of people don't agree with my path but ultimately it's my path and my decision and it's only going to affect me. Thrones was too rare an opportunity to miss. And an unbelievable education in itself.

"I tried to do both but I was massively burned out. It was really difficult. There were times when I was trying to teach myself with textbooks but yeah, big struggle. I'm bright but without someone to guide you, it's an impossible task.

"This is what I want to do. I'm getting fantastic opportunities, this is my career. Maybe when it comes to a point where I want to change my career path - and as of now, I don't see that happening anytime soon - I'll go back and get my exams. And get a normal job."

Away from the bloody depredations of Westeros, her career is picking up steam.

A spirited four-episode guest arc on Doctor Who was well received while her first lead in last year's The Falling, Carol Morley's wistful descent into melancholic hysteria, offered a tantalising taste of what's to come.

She'll satisfy her newly earned Hollywood credentials in The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea alongside Jason Sudeikis and Jessica Biel and don gusseted corsetry for A Storm in the Stars, shot on the streets of Victorian Dublin and due for release later this year.

It's clear the actress has made all the right moves.

"For so long, I was worried about everything going south, and what would I fall back on because ultimately this wasn't going to last forever. But now, I've got maybe a bit more of a grip on it all. I look to the future and get excited about what I'm going to do next.

"I used to enjoy being anonymous, but now I have to be kind of conscious that people know me, know so much about me. It became scary for a while but I had time to get acclimatised."

Shrewdly understanding her platform, she's become something of a feminist voice for disaffected millennials. Though the responsibility joshes her nerves. "I sometimes really worry about speaking up about feminist subjects out of fear of being bashed on social media," she said in a recent interview. "But I've got a voice. I believe in equality and I know I have more power than the average person to reach people."

She acquired her own flat in Bath and another recent admission revealed a relationship. "He's not famous. I met him at school. And now he's my boyfriend. I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious."

And the red carpet style has traced a marked maturation and evolution. Couture confidence has usurped the awkward high street teen. Williams is moving at warp speed. What keeps her grounded to the soil?

"My family will always be that touchstone, no matter what is going on. There's no history of 'showbiz', for want of a better expression. It keeps everything within a certain perspective."

Additionally, her darling Thrones alum keep the faith within. Especially screen sister, Sophie Turner [Sansa Stark].

"We really came through this together. Neither of us had acted before and we've grown up with it. When I started out, she was my support system because it was scary and daunting."

Though being friends with the gamine red-head apparently has its downsides.

"When we're walking down the street, people just stop and stare as she walks past and then it's just me plodding along beside.

"Every year we've come back and she's like another foot taller. And I, well…," she chuckles, glancing at the floor.

Their sisterly reunions could be numbered however. Only days ago, Thrones showrunners, David Benioff and DB Weiss revealed that season seven may have just seven episodes, while the eighth - and potentially last - season could have only six.

But now the new season has moved beyond George RR Martin's books, Williams admits an excitement to the unknown.

"The level of secrecy behind the show now is so intense because before if you really wanted to know what was going to happen, you could just read the books or go on fan sites.

"Now, it's a free for all. Everyone is at the same point. We've all caught up with each other so anything that happens will be a surprise.

"It's all really exciting."