Sophie Turner Says Goodbye To Sansa Stark Before ‘Game Of Thrones’ Finale

Sophie Turner is joining millions of fans in saying goodbye to her longtime Game of Thrones character.

The actress played Sansa Stark on the popular HBO show since the show premiered in 2011. As GOT prepares to air its final episode, Turner shared two photos of her in character with her 12.6 million Instagram followers. In the first photo, Turner is joined by multiple members of her cast in a group photo with all of them in their medieval garb. In another, she is joined by Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Masie Williams (Arya Stark) in a scene from the show. In her caption, the actress shares an anecdote about the character she has played for a decade.

“Sansa, thank you for teaching me resilience, bravery and what true strength really is,” Turner wrote in a lengthy caption. “Thank you for teaching me to be kind and patient and to lead with love. I grew up with you. I fell in love with you at 13 and now 10 years on.. at 23 I leave you behind, but I will never leave behind what you’ve taught me.”

Turner then shares that she is grateful to the people who have helped create GOT and the fans who have made the show a success during its run. The actress said she will miss the fandom the most once the series says farewell on Sunday. Several of Turner’s co-stars also joined her in paying homage to their characters, including Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth). Under Turner’s post, more than 20,000 fans commented and said they will miss her character and the record-breaking drama.

People reports that shortly after the X-Men star was chosen to play the role of the eldest Stark sister, she began facing body image and mental health issues. She said being an actor in the age of social media made her “mentally unwell,” as many television studios would make comments about the young actress’ body.

“Being in the age of social media when that’s happening, I think I would be a much saner person if I hadn’t been documented from 13,” Turner said.

The young actress also credits her husband, Joe Jonas, for sticking by her side during her phase of mental health struggles. She said by him encouraging her to love herself more, she was able to seek therapy and feel better about being in the public eye.

The final episode of the series will air on Sunday, May 19, at 9 p.m. EST. Fans of Turner can follow the starlet on Instagram for more updates.