DAGMARA BRYZEK - JADWIGA OF POLAND (Korona Królów)

DAGMARA BRYZEK - JADWIGA OF POLAND (Korona Królów)

She’s around 18-20 in the series, but if you’re looking for an QITN or Lady of Winterfell vibe, you can’t go wrong with her!

Arya Stark Fancast Resource

So I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been having a hard time finding age-appropriate actors in period costumes when trying to create any content that doesn’t feature the actors from the show (not that I don’t love them all, just sometimes a change of pace is nice). That’s particularly true for characters whose book and show counterparts are significantly different in age. I thought I’d start putting together some resources for fancasts that are reasonably accurate to book descriptions, particularly after I saw the incredible Sansa Stark resource put together by BookSansaDaily.

So yeah, let’s start with Arya:

“Nine years old at the start of A Game of Thrones, Arya’s appearance is more Stark than Tully, with a long face, grey eyes, and brown hair. She is skinny and athletic. She is generally regarded as plain, as exemplified by a nickname “Arya Horseface”, and is often mistaken for a boy.” (x)

RAFFEY CASSIDY - YOUNG SNOW WHITE (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN)

Raffey Cassidy was roughly 9 years old when filming Snow White and the Huntsman. The costume design is appropriately medieval, and I’ve found it a particularly good resource because of the number of clips where Raffey looks disheveled and/or tomboyish. Best for AGOT and pre-ASOIAF content.

ANNA MAGUIRE - YOUNG DANIELLE (EVER AFTER: A CINDERELLA STORY)

I can’t find an accurate birthday for Anna Maguire, but given that she played a 9-year-old character two years after this film, I feel confident placing her at 7-10 during the filming of Ever After. The film is set in the Renaissance rather than the Middle Ages, but Danielle’s clothes are still reasonably appropriate. As with Snow White and the Huntsman, this is a good resource for both AGOT and pre-ASOIAF content, especially since it contains footage of Anna Maguire looking both put together and covered in mud. She’s not as long-faced as Arya should be, but she’s got the appropriate mischievous energy.

IVANA BAQUERO - OFELIA (PAN’S LABYRINTH)

Pan’s Labyrinth is set in the 1940s, well outside appropriate ASOIAF timeframes, so Ivana Baquero is best used for stills and closeups. However, the scene in which she faces the toad (pictures 1 and 4 here) has her filthy and in reasonably time-neutral underclothes, so I’ve found it useful before for the period when Arya’s on the run with the Night’s Watch or the Brotherhood. Ivana was 11 when filming, so that puts her at a more appropriate age for later novels.

ANUK STEFFAN - HEIDI (HEIDI)

Again, not a period-appropriate film, but Heidi does spend a significant amount of it running around in an undershirt, so that’s useful for taking it out of time a bit. Anuk Steffan was 10 when filming, and this movie has the added benefit of portraying her with both long and short hair, which makes it particularly ideal for content portraying both Arya Stark and Arry the Orphan. She even occasionally runs around in boys’ clothing, albeit 19th century boys’ clothing.

A FEW OTHERS

1. ARABELLA MORTON - GAEL (THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER): Arabella was 10 when filming the third Narnia movie. She doesn’t have a ton of footage, but there’s some material between her and her onscreen father that’s potentially useful for Arya and Ned, and she’s got a mischievous spirit that feels very Arya to me.

2. UNKNOWN ACTOR - YOUNG SOPHIA/ZOE (SOPHIA): I’m not sure who this actor is (if you know, please tell me!) but she plays Young Sophia/Zoe in the Russian series Sophia. Based on her height, she’s significantly older than Arya, and she only appears in one sequence, which can be found here. However, I think her face is uncommonly perfect for Arya, so I’ve used her both for gifs and for stills.

3. HARRY STOTT - LUPUS (ROMAN MYSTERIES): Harry Stott was 11-12 when filming the TV series Roman Mysteries. He’s a useful resource when fancasting Arya in disguise as Arry, particularly in the Season 2 episode titled “The Fugitive from Corinth,” where he wears the brown traveling cloak you can sort of see in the picture above.

4. TOM TAYLOR - YOUNG UHTRED (THE LAST KINGDOM): Another good Arry fancast. Tom Taylor was 13ish when filming the first season of The Last Kingdom, which has particularly good cold weather, fur-based fashion. Heads up that the character of Young Uhtred was recast for later seasons, and the other kid looks much less like Arya.

Anyway, I hope this is useful, and feel free to add any additional actors you like to cast as Arya! I’m planning to make several of these for different characters; the full set can be found here once I’ve made more.