Did Sophie Turner Really Defend Sansa’s Rape Scene In Game Of Thrones? Here’s What Happened!
Sophie Turner, who portrayed Sansa from the age of 15 right up to the series finale has provided a very controversial opinion!
When HBO’s Game of Thrones premiered, it was being lauded for its scope and narrative, yet consistently slammed for its graphic and violent treatment of women. Arguably, the most contentious moment was in Season 5, when Ramsay Bolton raped Sansa Stark on their wedding night. The episode provoked outrage, with fans calling the scene exploitative.
Now, almost a decade on, Sophie Turner, who portrayed Sansa from the age of 15 right up to the series finale has provided a more advanced opinion. When interviewed recently, the actress looked back on the way her comprehension of the content changed with increasing age.
Sophie Turner On Game Of Thrones
Sophie Turner explained that when she shot one of her previous scenes in Season 2, when Sansa was almost assaulted, she didn’t get the whole picture of what the scene meant. She was a teenager then and went about it more as a soap opera kind of scene than a scene based on trauma. When Season 5 came along, though, she was 19 and had a better idea of the gravity of what her character went through.
While conceding the wedding-night rape was disturbing to most viewers, Turner averred that she herself never found it gratuitous. For her, the series was addressing issues women have endured for centuries, s*xual violence, imbalance of power, and patriarchal dominance. She emphasised that she admires individuals who were triggered, but is convinced Game of Thrones did not avoid difficult realities.
Sophie Turner also pointed out that if this show were released today, scenes like these would have explicit trigger warnings. However, she was proud of the show for making hard conversations about the way women are treated both in and out of fiction.
The showreel was controversial when released in 2015 and was especially criticised because it broke with George R.R. Martin’s books, where Sansa never suffered that narrative. Nevertheless, Turner insists the artistic decision was made because, uncomfortable as it was, it simply illustrated how nasty the world they were portraying was.
Also Read: Report Claims Joe Jonas Was “Less Supportive” Of Sophie Turner When She Struggled With Postpartum!
Her latest film, Trust, once again placed her in the spotlight, and she has two other projects in the pipeline: The Dreadful, a gothic horror starring Kit Harington, and the heist drama Steal.
First Published: August 26, 2025 2:38 PM
