Sophie Turner is speaking out about a controversial Game of Thrones scene involving her character, Sansa Stark.
The 29-year-old opened up about being so young while filming a rape scene between Sansa and her husband Ramsay Bolton, who was played by Iwan Rheon, and how she understands the criticism, but she also defended having the scene in the show.
Keep reading to find out more…
“When I was younger, I think there was a scene in season one or two where my character narrowly escapes a rape. I didn’t fully understand it…I was trying to figure it out in my young little head,” she told Flaunt of an earlier scene.
As for the scene where Sansa doesn’t escape it, Sophie said she “had more of a grasp of what was happening,” but thinks it started an important conversation.
“I did feel—and still do—that Game of Thrones shone a light on things that many people were like ‘Oh god, you can’t show that kind of thing’—and I understand it can be triggering—I totally understand that point of view,” Sophie shared. “But I did feel we were actually doing a lot of justice to women and the fight women have had to fight for hundreds of thousands of years—the patriarchy, being treated as objects, and being constantly sexually assaulted—I don’t think there’s one woman I know who hasn’t had a form of that.”
“And that’s because we don’t [talk about] it enough—we shy away from it,” she added of men not believing her when she says this nowadays.
“I think if Game of Thrones came out today, we’d definitely put some trigger warnings on there,” she said. “But I’m really proud to have been a part of Game of Thrones where they didn’t shy away from showing atrocities that happened to women back then. I feel proud to have been part of the conversation.”
Previously, Iwan Rheon shared how filming that scene was “horrible” and “the worst day” of his career.
