Sophie Turner 'Developed a Coping Mechanism' to Address Game of Thrones 'Trauma'

In an interview with Jessica Chastain for The Cut, Sophie Turner revealed that filming Game of Thrones was so intense she suffered "trauma" that may manifest in the years to come.

Game of Thrones, known for its often violent and traumatic plots, required some cognitive dissonance for Turner, who was just 15 years old when the HBO drama premiered. "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 traumatized," she told Chastain.

"I’m sure I’ll exhibit some symptoms of trauma down the road," Turner continued. "At that age, I don’t think I could comprehend a lot of the scene matter. And the first few years, I had my mom with me because she was chaperoning me, so she would be very helpful and give me snacks."

Turner also told Chastain that it wasn't always easy growing up in the spotlight, and like any teenager, she became caught up in the effects of social media and wasn't able to evolve on her own time.

"I felt I overexposed myself to the point where I welcomed everything in and everyone in on their opinions," said Turner. Now, I think I would fight harder than I ever have to try and protect that."

She told Chastain, "It’s amazing because I think for 10 years, I felt like I needed to be the person that everyone else saw because I was growing up and I didn’t know anything else. Other than the character that I was playing in 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. And so when Game of Thrones ended, I started developing, like, a personal life and then finally a taste for what I actually wanted to do in my work and things like that. I feel like I’m only on the beginning of my journey of evolving into a person I probably should have evolved into about 10 years ago."

All seasons of Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO Max.

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Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.