Sophie Turner Says She Expects To Experience ‘Trauma’ As Result Of ‘Game Of Thrones’

Sophie Turner opened up about how she got through filming some of the darkest Game Of Thrones scenes that her character of Sansa Stark went through before becoming (spoiler alert) the Queen in the North. Turner played the role from the age of 15 to 22, and first spoke about the series’ role in her life when she said leaving the show felt like her first chance to get a personal life in years.

“For ten years, I felt like I needed to be that person that everyone else saw because I was growing up and I didn’t know anyone else,” Turner told Jessica Chastain in an interview for The Cut. “Other than the character I was playing on 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.” After wrapping on Thrones, 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.”

It doesn’t seem like Turner wouldn’t particularly recommend growing up on a film set as ideal adolescence. In some of the darker scenes of Game Of Thrones, Turner said, “I kind of find it quite easy to go in and out,” of her character’s circumstances and leave behind the most intense moments at work. “The subject matter was so heavy that I just developed the coping mechanism of just having the most fun between takes, so I wouldn’t get traumatized,” Turner then elaborated.

When asked by Chastain if she thought filming Game of Thrones left her with any trauma, Turner responded, “I’m sure I’ll exhibit some symptoms of trauma down the road. At that age, I don’t think I could comprehend a lot of the scene matter.” She also added that she was accompanied by her mother on set for much of the start of filming, as it is a legal requirement for most working actors under the age of eighteen. Despite being grateful her mom was there, Turner mostly remembered being “embarrassed” by her presence.

Turner’s newest role is for the HBO Max miniseries The Staircase, which also stars Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg and Dane DeHaan.