Maisie Williams Says Nude Bike Scene In Pistol ‘Felt The Opposite' Of Exploitative

In Danny Boyle’s tale about the formation of the Sex Pistols, one character who instantly demands viewers’ attention is Pamela ‘Jordan’ Rooke.

Maisie Williams stars as the punk rock style icon in the six-episode series Pistol and her first scene reinterprets a wild real event for the small screen.

Jordan rides her bike wearing nothing but a see-through PVC yellow coat, leaving the locals in the mid-1970s town with their jaws on the floor in shock.

She later catches a train wearing the same jacket to even more shocked stares and glances.

The 25-year-old actor, who rose to fame on Game of Thrones - a show which had its fair share of nudity - says understanding the intention of a nude scene is what she considers before agreeing to film one. Knowing that the scene in Pistol is based on Jordan's real life helped her feel comfortable filming it.

"For me playing any character and doing any sort of nudity you just want to understand what the intention is, what the intention is of the character or of the writer and this isn’t fiction this is what Jordan really did and she faced a lot of criticism for it," she exclusively told Tyla.

"But when she speaks about it, she really wasn’t a victim of her look, she used her nudity and she used her body as a way of provoking others and as a way of feeling most confident."

In a post-#MeToo era when actors, directors and audiences are more concerned about safeguarding on set for nude and intimate scenes, Maisie told Tyla that the scene did not feel exploitative.

"For me as an actor that was exactly how I assumed that scene and that particular outfit on the bike and it didn’t feel exploitative, in fact it felt the opposite - I felt like a lot of people didn’t know what to do with themselves, they didn’t know where to look, they didn’t know how to be respectful.

"And that’s kind of a hugely empowering position to be in really and so in terms of the preparation it was kind of all in the hair, the makeup and the costume and everything just sort of fell into place."

Maisie went through a 'vast' transformation to morph into 'the queen of punk' who died in April aged 66.

With bleached hair and eyebrows and Jordan's signature black eye makeup, Maisie said the cast did not recognise her on set. "It got to the point where when I was out of makeup and the costume, people didn’t recognise me. So, I think it was a very vast transformation and I got a lot of great compliments and infatuated stares.

"It was all Jordan , it was all her coming through me and it felt very new to experience.”

Maisie was able to spend time with Jordan before she died and although she didn't get a chance to watch any of the episodes, she was 'hugely integral' to the finished project. Jordan was on set during production to give the actors first-hand reflections and tips on the debaucherous period in music and fashion.

"She was unlike anyone I had ever met before," Maisie said of Jordan. "It's very rare to be in the presence of someone who is so confident in themselves and so honest in the way that they conduct themselves.

"She had such a clear understanding of the way that things looked or were, from this time period and she consulted on the show was hugely helpful to Craig [Pearce] and Danny [Boyle] and myself and all the other actors and the hair and makeup department for all of the costumes and [Vivienne Westwood's Sex] shop, the way it looked and the way they decorated it, she was hugely influential."

Pistol is available to stream on Disney+ now.