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‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Sophie Turner ‘Clings Onto Childhood’ Because Fame Forced Her To Grow Up

By Ny MaGee
Published on: 17:37 PST, May 28, 2016

Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner was 13-years-old when she scored her first big gig in the hit HBO fantasy series as Sansa Stark, a role that brought her international fame and four Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Seven years and six seasons later, 20-year-old Turner admits that she “clings onto her childhood” because fame forced her to grow up fast.

“I definitely felt I had to grow up faster than I would have done. I’m very driven in terms of work, but I’m almost more playful and silly than my friends. I cling onto childhood,” she tells the July issue of British InStyle Magazine.

Turner added that she feels “almost embarrassed” about being famous because she feels people “look down” on her for it.

“I feel almost embarrassed by being in the public eye sometimes. I almost get the feeling that people look down on me because of it. If you’re on a night out, they will definitely tease you for it.”

The English actress told InStyle that she went through “hard years” between the ages of 16 and 19 as she struggled with her body transforming in the public eye, but she confesses that her Game of Thrones co-star, Lena Headey, was a constant source of support throughout her growing pains.

“Lena felt like a bit of a mum to me. She’s kind of the coolest person I’ve ever met. Tatted up, pixie hair – the epitome of cool,” Turner said.

“When people started to know my name, as well as the character’s name, that was kind of difficult. From 16 to when I turned 19, they were quite hard years. You’re in the prime of puberty; your body is changing, your face is changing, and people still saw me as that 13-year-old girl, with no body, and thought that’s how I should look forever. So, growing up and having my body transform, and my hormones, and people watching and commenting on that – that was tricky. Even my friends were having a hard time with that stuff, but when people are printing photos of your bad skin, that’s really difficult.”

This weekend, Sophie made her big screen blockbuster debut as Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse, a role she sought an audition for after friends and Game of Thrones fans encouraged her to do so. Turner booked the gig, joining a new class of teen mutants, alongside the veterans she refers to as “the golden oldies,” (Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult), per the Los Angeles Times.

“They really welcomed us, we felt part of the old gang. I suppose ‘Apocalypse’ is something of a conclusion to the X-Men saga, [but] it’s also the beginning of something new. It feels like there’s something of a rebirth as well as a conclusion,” she said.

In addition to “having a cynical perspective” in showbiz because, as Sophie says, “there’s just a lot of rejection,” she previously explained why she prefers to date guys who work in the industry.

“I’ve never dated anyone who I didn’t know before or who’s in the industry. I think that’s quite a conscious decision because the lifestyles wouldn’t work. This profession is so different to any other; the going away for long amounts of time – I think it would just be really difficult. If you meet on a job, it’s amazing. You have five months together and it’s incredible. Then, once it’s over, suddenly one of you is shooting in Australia and the other one is shooting in Spain, and you never know when you’re going to see each other again, but at least you both understand it.”

Sophie Turner said fans can expect to see Sansa Stark “finally playing” the game this season because “she’s sick of being a pawn in everyone else’s game.” She added, “Every time she goes somewhere with someone, it doesn’t work out. So just doing her own thing and trying to make people listen to her. It’s very much about her taking her own path.”

[Photo by Vianney Le Caer/AP Images]

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