She was caged at King’s Landing all season long, but on Sunday’s “Game of Thrones,” Sophie Turner’s Sansa Stark took flight.
After Queen Cersei abandoned the ladies of court at the height of the battle of Blackwater, Sansa went from “little dove” to pack-leading wolf, with an inspired speech. A defining moment for the Stark character, the young British actress said the hardest part of the scene wasn’t pulling off her address.
“It was really cool scene to film, but oh, it was horrible at the same time because I can’t sing… But, I did feel very empowered doing it,” Sophie told AccessHollywood.com of the moment Sansa finally found her voice and showed her mettle, before leading the women in a hymn.
For the teenage Brit, her current fears aren’t about singing, but school exams. Yet, with just days until the show’s Season 2 finale, Sophie put the books down to discuss the “Blackwater” episode with Access, the fans’ interest in “SanSan” (Sansa and Sandor Clegane), and what lies ahead for her redheaded character.
AccessHollywood.com: You’ve had so many tough scenes this season… the abuse directed by Joffrey, the angry mob in Episode 7… Is that tough on you to film? The emotions must run very high.
Sophie Turner: Yes, it is quite dramatic and it’s a very intense atmosphere, but I love working with the stunt team and I get excited every time I read a scene like that, because I absolutely love getting my teeth stuck into something like that. I love scenes with great depth.
Access: In Episode 9, after Cersei runs off with Tommen, you have to lead the leftover women in a hymn, and rise to the occasion. It must have been an incredible scene to film…
Sophie: Yeah, it was really cool scene to film, but oh, it was horrible at the same time because I can’t sing… But I did feel very empowered doing it. Afterwards, I especially did. Maybe not at the time – I was very much being vain and hoping that my singing sounded all right rather than actually getting into the scene, so hopefully it’s OK.
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Access: At the end of ‘Blackwater,’ Ser Loras Tyrell comes in with Tywin Lannister. What are people going to see looking ahead to Episode 10?
Sophie: What you’re going to see for Sansa, is there’s going to be a big change, a turn of events for her. There’s a big twist as well.
Access: How does her relationship with Cersei change after the Queen abandons her in Episode 9? I imagine that’s going to make it even worse for her, to look at that woman.
Sophie: Yeah, I think it’s gonna make her relationship with Cersei worse because Sansa’s just been left alone to deal with all these women who are kind of hysterical about this war and they all think they’re going to die… So, Sansa has to take it into her own hands, and it’s very hard for her, because she’s been through a lot and she kind of has to encourage these girls that it’s going to be OK. I think she’s gonna resent Cersei for that.
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Access: One of the things that was so sweet this season was Sandor… his affection for, and protection of Sansa. Will anything continue or is he out the door at the end of 9?
Sophie: I don’t think you see much after Episode 9 of Sandor until next season, but hopefully there will be a development yet again in Sansa and Sandor’s relationship. I love their relationship, I think it’s a very complicated one, but I think it’s very beautiful, in a way, because Sandor’s been through so much and he’s been at the hands of bullying from his older brother, and he’s seeing this happen to Sansa, who is very vulnerable, not in terms of mental ability, but in terms of physicality.
Access: Have you seen the things people put on the internet – they did it to Gendry and Arya. There’s a whole group of fans obsessed with Sandor and Sansa. They gave them a supercouple style combination name – ‘SanSan.’
Sophie: Yeah! I’ve had a lot of Tweets about that – ‘Oh, what’s happening with ‘SanSan’?’ And I didn’t know what it was, so I Googled it, and up pops all these kind of forums and things and I’m like, ‘What is this?’ I think I’m kind of aware of the massive amount of fans that want something to happen between Sansa and Sandor.
Access: Joe Dempsie (Gendry) came by and he told us the fans taught him the word ‘shipping.’ Is that also how you learned that one? (Click HERE to watch Joe Dempsie explain ‘shipping.’)
Sophie: Yes, I learnt this term. And I was like, ‘What is ‘shipping’? I was really confused. There’s a lot of shipping going on in terms of ‘Game of Thrones.’
Access: So Sophie ’shipping’… Would Sophie be toward Justin Bieber?
Sophie: Definitely toward Justin Bieber. I ship Sophie and Justin Bieber (laughs).
Access: What do you love about The Biebs? He’s a good little singer.
Sophie: He has the most beautiful, angelic voice (laughs). I don’t know. He’s just wonderful.
Access: And a good dancer too.
Sophie: He’s such a good dancer.
Access: What would you do if you met Justin Bieber?
Sophie: I’d go [into] fangirl mode… I told myself so many times I’d pretend that I don’t really know who he is so he’d like me a little more – ‘cause he doesn’t like obsessed fans — but I don’t think I’d be able to deal with The Biebs.
Access: Speaking of music, Rory [McCann, who plays The Hound] told me at the very beginning of the season that he had a guitar on set and the kids on set would ask him to play songs from ‘Glee.’ Is this true and were you a part of it?
Sophie: Oh, I didn’t know this… I remember once, we were in Scotland and we were shooting the pilot, Rory got up on the piano and started playing in this bar in Scotland and everyone was joining in. It was really nice.
Access: He seems like a fun guy, but I would be weary of his pranks.
Sophie: Rory? Yeah, I can definitely see this. He’s a really cool guy though. He’s so nice and I don’t think he gets enough credit for his work. He’s awesome. I love him.
Access: You’re finishing up your exams for school. Jack Gleeson (Joffrey) is a scholar at his university. Is that inspiring to you, being a student yourself?
Sophie: Yeah, I mean Jack is a super smart guy. He’s really, really intelligent and… I only just found out he is a scholar. I think it only happened about two months ago or something. So, I’m gonna give him a big congratulations when he comes back on set. But no, he never boasts about his intelligence or anything. I mean, I would, if I was that clever. He’s a lovely down to earth kind of guy.
The “Game of Thrones” Season 2 finale airs Sunday at 9 PM on HBO.
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