Sophie Turner shocks fans with 'Game of Thrones' rape scene confession: ‘I wouldn’t survive it today’

Highlights:

• Sophie Turner reflects on Game of Thrones’ most controversial rape scene
• The actress admits modern TV would include trigger warnings
• Turner says the show highlighted patriarchy and women’s struggles
• She reunites with Kit Harington in upcoming gothic horror film

Sophie Turner has defended the controversial Game of Thrones rape scene involving her character Sansa Stark, saying the sequence, while triggering, played an important role in highlighting patriarchy and women’s struggles. Speaking in a new interview, the British actress admitted that if the series aired today, it would include trigger warnings, but she believes the depiction sparked conversations about sexual violence that remain crucial.

Sophie Turner opens up about Sansa Stark’s controversial wedding night scene in Game of Thrones Getty Images

What did Sophie Turner say about the Game of Thrones rape scene?

Turner, who joined Game of Thrones at the age of 14 and played Sansa until the series ended in 2019, addressed the criticism surrounding her season five wedding night rape scene. The moment, which was not in George RR Martin’s source material, drew widespread outrage in 2015.

“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,’” she said. “I understand it can be triggering, 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.”

She added that almost every woman she knows has experienced some form of harassment, but men around her are often shocked because “we don’t talk about it enough.”

Sophie Turner says the HBO series did justice to women by exposing patriarchy through its darkest storylinesGetty Images

Would Game of Thrones include trigger warnings today?

The actress acknowledged that standards in television have shifted since the series first aired in 2011. “I think if Game of Thrones came out today, we’d definitely put some trigger warnings on there,” she admitted.

Despite the criticism, Turner said she felt proud to be part of a series that didn’t shy away from showing “atrocities that happened to women back then.” For her, the scene was not gratuitous, but a reflection of the harsh realities women faced and still face under patriarchal systems.

Turner admits the controversial episode would come with trigger warnings if it aired todayInstagram/sansastarkwinterfell

How did fans and critics respond at the time?

When the episode first aired, it sparked a heated backlash. Some critics argued that the storyline stripped Sansa of her agency, while others felt it continued the show’s pattern of overusing sexual violence as a plot device.

A writer for The Atlantic criticised the series for “ramping up sexual violence” compared to the books, while Vanity Fair said the scene “undercut all the agency that had been growing in Sansa.” On the other hand, The Guardian defended the choice, calling it a gothic tale of “innocence sacrificed” that was carefully handled.

Even actor Iwan Rheon, who played Ramsay Bolton, described filming the sequence as the “worst day of my career,” telling Metro in 2020 that it was “horrible” for everyone on set.

What is Sophie Turner working on next?

Turner, now 29, is set to reunite with her Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington in the upcoming gothic horror The Dreadful, directed by Natasha Kermani. Unlike their brother-sister dynamic on the HBO show, the pair will play lovers in the film. “Sorry guys, it’s really weird for all of us,” Turner joked in a previous interview.

The actress has also spoken about how her time on Game of Thrones shaped her life and career. She auditioned at 12 and wrapped the show at 23, describing the experience as an “education in business decisions, etiquette on set, and how to act.”

While she is not involved in HBO’s prequel House of the Dragon, Turner has said she would only consider returning to Westeros if the “exact same cast and crew” were on board, effectively making it Game of Thrones season nine.