Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner has discussed her coping mechanism for filming disturbing scenes in the hit HBO fantasy drama.
Turner said in a new interview that she expects to “exhibit some symptoms of trauma” despite so far feeling OK about the experiences, adding that she used the tool of laughter with her co-stars to help distract from the show’s upsetting subject matter.
In one episode, Turner (who portrayed Sansa Stark in the series) marries Ramsay Bolton who rapes her on their wedding night while forcing Theon Greyjoy to watch.
Turner was 19 years old at the time the season six episode was filmed. She told actress Jessica Chastain in an interview for The Cut magazine that she doesn’t have a ritual for going in and out of character but that she finds it “quite easy to go in and out”.
“You saw on X-Men,” Turner told her in X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) co-star, “between takes, singing and dancing together. It does help having people around that are also willing to step out of it as well.”
Turner continued: “And it’s just something that growing up on a show like Game Of Thrones, the subject matter was so heavy that I just developed a coping mechanism of just having the most fun in between takes, so I wouldn’t get traumatised.”
When Chastain asked Turner whether some of the series’ more graphic and violent themes have left any trauma for her, she answered: “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.”
In other Game Of Thrones news, the forthcoming prequel series House Of The Dragon has confirmed a summer release date. The series, which takes places 200 years before the events of the flagship HBO show, is set to premiere on August 21 via HBO Max in the US and will be simulcast on Sky Atlantic/NOW in the UK in the early hours of August 22.
