NEED TO KNOW
- Sophie Turner defended Game of Thrones‘ controversial depiction of rape in a new interview
- Speaking to Flaunt magazine, the actress said by showing these moments it was “actually doing a lot of justice to women” and that she feels “proud to have been part of the conversation”
- Turner played Sansa Stark throughout Game of Thrones‘ entire eight-season run between 2011 and 2019
Sophie Turner is reflecting on Game of Thrones‘ controversial use of rape throughout its storytelling.
The actress, now 29, played Sansa Stark on the popular HBO series throughout its entire run. Speaking to Flaunt magazine, she shared how her perspective on the mature plotlines changed throughout the course of the show as she got older.
When discussing the scene in which her character was nearly raped in the season 2 episode “The Old Gods and the New,” Turner said she “didn’t fully understand it” at the time and “was trying to figure it out in my young little head.”
Fast-forward to the season 5 episode “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” during which Sansa marries Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), only for her to be sexually assaulted at the hands of her new husband.
Turner said she “had more of a grasp on what was happening” when filming this episode and, though she understood the negative reaction, she defended the moment for sparking what she deemed 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,” she explained. “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.”
“I think if Game of Thrones came out today, we’d definitely put some trigger warnings on there,” Turner added. “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.”
Critics were split on the show depicting the rape of Sansa by Ramsay when the episode aired.
A writer for The Atlantic said the showrunners “still apparently believe that their tendency to ramp up the sex, violence, and — especially — sexual violence of George R.R. Martin’s source material is a strength rather than the defining weakness of their adaptation.”
Meanwhile, a writer for Vanity Fair suggested that “this rape scene undercuts all the agency that’s been growing in Sansa,” and added, “I’d never advocate that Game of Thrones (or any work of fiction) shy away from edgy plots out of fear of pushback or controversy. But edgy plots should always accomplish something above pure titillation or shock value and what, exactly, was accomplished here?”
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The episode did have its defenders, though, with one writer for The Guardian saying the scene was “more than” an instance of a show using “rape as a plot device,” explaining, “The writers are walking a very fine line here. They handled it well tonight, telling a gothic tale of innocence sacrificed … and hinted perfectly at horrors to come, but they must be careful not to tip from there to gratuitous violence for its own sake.”
Turner previously joked that she got “more than enough” sex education while filming Game of Thrones in her teens.
While appearing on the Dish podcast in July 2025, Turner said her “amazing” experience on the series “informed [her] entire life in terms of like business decisions, just etiquette on set, how to act.”
The actress auditioned for Game of Thrones when she was 12 and wrapped the show when she was 23. She acknowledged the series’ nude scenes — some of which were intertwined with controversial storylines — were “really crazy s—.”
“I definitely got my sex education from that show,” she joked. “More, more than enough.”
Game of Thrones can be streamed in its entirety on HBO Max.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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