Sophie Turner Nearly Had Trauma Filming “Game Of Thrones”

Sophie Turner was just 15-years-old when she was featured in “Game of Thrones” as Sansa Stark. During the show’s eight seasons, her character transformed from a young girl to the icy Queen of the North. She endured a lot of violence along the way. 

In her recent cover story for The Cut, the actress, now 26-year-old, talks to Jessica Chastain about how she copes with the heavy content on the show both on “Game of Thrones” and in her work as part of the second generation “X-Men” films, in which she starred alongside Chastain.

“You saw on ‘X-Men,’ in between takes, singing, and dancing together,” Turner said. “It does help having people around that are also willing to step out of it as well.”

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It was a “coping mechanism” she said she picked up during her time on “Game of Thrones,” which featured a whole cast of young actors in George R.R. Martin’s extremely dark story, although the show at times went even further than the books it was based on, saying she expects to have some trauma “down the road.” 

“The subject matter on “Game of Thrones” was so heavy that I just developed a coping mechanism of just having the most fun in between takes, so I wouldn’t get traumatized,” Turner told Chastain.

Sophie Turner — Turner’s Role In The Film “Game of Thrones”

Turner acted out several violent scenes while she was still underage, including when Joffrey Lannister — who tormented her frequently — had his guard strip and beat her. When she was 19, she acted out one of the show’s most controversial scenes, where she is sexually assaulted by Ramsay Bolton just after they get married. 

Actor Iwan Rheon, who played Ramsey, later described shooting that day as “the worst day” of his career and that it was “very difficult to deal with.” The brutal scene also elicited a lot of negative feedback from viewers, who were getting fed up with the show’s seemingly needless display of sexual violence, especially as it wasn’t written in the books.

When she was asked if she has any trauma from being in the center of some pretty abhorrent scenes, Turner replied, “I’m sure I’ll exhibit some symptoms of trauma down the road.”

She said that she’s not sure she even fully comprehended the depths of some of the scenes she was part of due to her age. In fact, she said she doesn’t think she was even developing a true sense of herself and her individuality during those years as a result of growing up in such a public way.

“And the first few years, I had my mom with me because she was chaperoning me, so she would be very helpful and give me snacks.” 

Sophie Turner — Turner On Not Truly Being Herself

As someone who grew up onset and online, Turner’s relationships with both acting and interaction with audiences have shifted dramatically over the last decade or so. 

“I think for ten years, I felt like I needed to be the person that everyone else saw because I was growing up and I didn’t know anything else,” she said. “Other than the character that I was playing in Game of Thrones and then other people’s perceptions of me, I didn’t have time to figure out who I was as a person.”

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After not being afforded much privacy as a kid, Turner fully leaned into social media until, she said, “I felt I overexposed myself to the point where I welcomed everything in and everyone in on their opinions. Now, I think I would fight harder than I ever have to try and protect that.”

Now, a few years removed from the series and settling nicely into family life with Joe Jonas and exploring new roles as an adult, Turner said, “I feel like I’m only on the beginning of my journey of evolving into a person I probably should have evolved into about ten years ago.”

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Sophie Turner right now. Come back here often for all the Sophie Turner’s spoilers, news, and updates.

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