Sophie Turner has reflected on the impact having children at a young age has had on her career, saying she has “had to try to rebuild.”
The British Game of Thrones star, 29, has two daughters aged five and three with her ex-husband, pop star Joe Jonas.
Speaking to The Guardian in a new interview, Turner said she is happy she had her children in her mid-twenties, explaining: “It’s really nice. I’m not worrying about my biological clock and all that sort of stuff.”
Turner was 13 years old when she was cast to play Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, and remained on the hit HBO show from 2011 to 2019. While making the series, she also starred in the leading role of Jean Grey in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and its 2019 sequel Dark Phoenix.
She added that taking time off subsequently to concentrate on her family after that “just felt like the right break to focus on me, because I’d been a character for so long. Nesting and being at home was amazing. But the flipside of it, and Covid didn’t help, was that this was a big break from the career.”
She continued: “And I’ve had to try to rebuild, in a way. You don’t realise how important momentum is in a career, and I stalled it a bit.”
Turner and Jonas divorced in 2024, the same year she starred in the ITV crime drama Joan. She will next be seen in the London-set series Steal, which arrives on Prime Video this month. “The state of our industry is slowly getting a little bit better,” said Turner. “Especially in the UK.”
The first official image of Turner as the iconic adventurer Lara Croft was also unveiled this week, marking the start of production for the highly anticipated new Tomb Raider series.
Amazon MGM Studios confirmed that the Prime Video drama, which follows the exploits of the renowned archaeologist, is now underway.
The striking photograph released on Thursday shows Turner in full action, clad in combat-style shorts and a vest, with a gun prominently displayed against her right thigh.
The series boasts an impressive ensemble cast alongside Turner, including Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Martin Bobb-Semple, Jack Bannon, John Heffernan, Bill Paterson, Paterson Joseph, Sasha Luss, Juliette Motamed, Celia Imrie, and August Wittgenstein.
Based on the popular video game franchise, the new adaptation has been spearheaded by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who serves as writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner.
Alien star Weaver takes on the role of Evelyn Wallis, described as a "high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents." Meanwhile, The Thursday Murder Club actress Imrie will portray Francine, head of advancement at the British Museum, and The White Lotus star Isaacs is cast as Lara’s uncle, Atlas DeMornay.
Turner steps into a role previously embodied by Oscar-winning actors Alicia Vikander and Angelina Jolie in earlier film adaptations.
Turner said of the role: “I’ve been a long-time fan of Tomb Raider and the character of Lara. She has always felt for me, very emboldened in a male-dominated world. She’s a fierce female role model.”
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