Game of Thrones stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner are teaming up to take the wheel and sing songs in an upcoming episode of Carpool Karaoke: The Series. The duo shared the news on Sunday via a video posted on the show’s Twitter page.

The actresses were on hand at SXSW in Austin, Texas to make the announcement that they were shooting an episode for Apple Music’s series.

Based on the hit Late Late Show segment, the upcoming series will feature 16 celebrity pairings riding along in a car together as they sing tunes from their personal playlists. While James Corden won’t be the driver for all the adventures, the stars will drive around and surprise fans who don’t expect to see them belting out tunes one lane over. Additional guests include Michael Strahan, Jeff Gordon, John Cena, Shaquille O’Neal and many more.

Produced by CBS Television Studios and Fulwell 73, Corden and Ben Winston serve as co-creators and executive producers along with executive producer and showrunner Eric Pankowski.

Williams and Turner also took part in the Game of Thrones panel on Sunday, which they moderated. During the discussion showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss announced that Season 8 of the hit HBO series will only consist of six episodes and that Ed Sheeran will have a guest role in the upcoming season.

No premiere date has been set for Carpool Karaoke: The Series. [Source]

The reaction to Game of Thrones’ controversial rape scene of Sansa Stark fundamentally changed the actress who plays her, Sophie Turner, according to the actress herself. In an essay for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Turner revealed that initially viewer outrage shocked and angered her. “I was angry that there is such a taboo surrounding rape and that depicting it on screen was seen as vulgar. Sexual violence happens every day all around the world and yet for that to be represented on television, when other forms of violence are so often represented and more importantly, accepted and even welcomed in some cases, was considered disgusting instead of important. It made me think: why such a taboo?”

Then Turner realized that te fact that an important dialogue was created because of Game of Thrones’ scene was actually very exciting. It lit a fire within her to continue it. “Unless we continually keep broadcasting people’s stories of sexual violence, then how else are people going to respond?” she wrote. “This is what made me want to get involved, and that’s when I came across Women for Women International, and how I ended up visiting their programme in Rwanda where women are still dealing with the aftermath of the 1994 genocide when over 1 million people were killed and the UN estimates that up to 500,000 women were systemically raped during the 100 days of violence.”

Beyond excited that on #InternationalWomensDay I’m able to announce that I’m officially a patron of @womenforwomenUK

What made me want to work with Women for Women International was the plan that they have in place for women survivors of sexual violence and war. They not only set out to raise money to help women support themselves financially, but they provide a year-long training programme to teach women business and life skills that will help them to rebuild their lives, helping them not just to survive, but to thrive.” Continue reading  »