‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Sophie Turner Says Sansa Stark Is ‘Very Consciously Changing And Adapting’

For some Game of Thrones fans, Sophie Turner’s Sansa Stark is a model of inspiration and hope, proving that even the most victimized of souls can find the strength to turn and fight one’s oppressors. For others, the Game of Thrones character is little more than a whipping post, subserviently taking whatever horrors her latest lord wishes to dish out upon her and even when Turner’s character shows some strength in standing up to those victimizers, some Game of Thrones fans presume it will only be a matter of time before young Lady Stark again finds herself at the mercy of another psychotic tyrant.

Game Of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner On The Evolution Of Sansa Stark

Throughout most of the past seasons of Game of Thrones, Sansa Stark as become more and more of a victim, passed from Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) to Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish (Aidan Gillen) to Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon); but Turner says her Game of Thrones character learns something from each of the men who have betrayed and preyed upon her. Indeed, Sophie says Sansa Stark builds up her own strength and evolves into a more resilient lady through these trials.

“Sansa’s building her and building her and building her and each time someone chips away at her, she builds herself up again differently,” Turner said. “She is very consciously changing and adapting.”

Game of Thrones viewers recently saw something of that strength, when Sansa confronted Littlefinger with Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) at her side. At that meeting, fans of Lady Stark had their faith in the eldest living Stark woman reaffirmed, as she put Baelish in his place. Sophie says the scene was emotionally gratifying for herself, as the actress playing the Game of Thrones woman, just as she imagines it might have been for Lady Stark, herself.

“It just kind of felt like a release of emotion,” says Ms. Turner. “Finally, she’s briefing this man and she’s saying what she wants to Littlefinger, which is a big thing in itself.”

Sophie Turner On Joining X-Men: Apocalypse As A Younger Jean Grey

Fans often feel that an actor or actress does a better job, when they come to the project as a fan of the film or franchise, which is exactly the case with Sophie in coming to play Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse. Turner says she has been a fan of the X-Men comics, even from a very young age. The actress says she loves that each of the X-Men is flawed in his or her own way, and that they all come to the story with their own unique histories. Turner has always loved that the characters have their own insecurities and she remarks that she had always been drawn to Jean Grey in particular.

Sophie isn’t the first person to play Jean Grey, but Ms. Turner points out that her version of Jean Grey isn’t nearly as polished and comfortable with her powers as Famke Janssen’s rendition of the X-Men character. Turner says she portrays a much younger and less experienced Jean Grey.

“She can’t control her powers. And she and Charles can see just how strong she is. But she’s at the school and all the kids are kind of afraid of her so they alienate her. And she is afraid of herself so she kind of alienates herself,” says Ms. Turner. “She’s just very, very vulnerable, and so terrified. She’s just kind of a lone wolf. And, I mean, she’s going through puberty and she’s being a teenager.”

The X-Men: Apocalypse actress also reveals that she may be back for more X-Men films and that an exploration of the Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix story arc may be in the cards for future sequels, as the X-Men feature film franchise reboots itself with a younger cast.

“The seeds of Phoenix definitely are planted in there. It’s kind of like she has this at the back of her mind and it’s almost like she can’t control her powers unless she either fully stops them or she lets them all loose, and that’s kind of Phoenix,” says Sophie Turner. “There are definitely, like, bits and pieces, but I think in future movies to come we’ll definitely see a bit more of that.”

The next episode of Game of Thrones airs on Sunday, May 29 on HBO.

X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters this Friday.

[Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]