Sophie Turner has admitted her performance on Game Of Thrones was affected by comments on social media which criticised her acting skills and appearance.
The 23-year-old actress has played Sansa Stark since the show’s inception in 2011, with filming beginning in July 2010 when was only 14 years old.
In an appearance on Dr Phil’s podcast Phil In The Blanks on Tuesday, Sophie explained how growing up in the spotlight through her teenage years had its downsides – with comments on social media having contributed to the depression she’s struggled with since age 17.
You see ten great comments and you ignore them, but one negative comment and it just like throws you off,’ Sophie said.
‘So the character I play is Sansa and people used to write, “Damn Sansa gained 10 pounds” or “Sansa got fat”. It was just a lot of weight comments or I’d have spotty skin because I was a teenager, and that’s normal.
‘I used to get a lot of comments about my skin, and my weight and how I wasn’t a good actress, things like that. I used to get called “wooden” a lot, still do.
‘I would just believe it. I would just say, “Yeah I am spotty, I am fat, I am a bad actress” and I just believed it.’
Asked how it affected her on the show, Sophie replied: ‘I’d get them to tighten my corset a lot. I just got very self-conscious, I would try out different things with my acting. I actually wasn’t angry about the fact people said I was wooden because it kind of inspired me to try new methods of acting and things like that, so I wasn’t that mad about that.
‘I would be concerned about angles, I would be concerned about my face, I had a big nose and everyone used to love to tell me that. And I’d be like I don’t know how to angle myself, and it would just affect me creatively. I couldn’t be true to the character because I was so worried about Sophie.’
Asked if it caused her to do a worse or better job, Sophie replied: ‘I think a worse job. I think so.’
Sophie Turner has previously spoken out about mental health, and earlier this year criticised Piers Morgan for stating celebrities are trying to make the topic ‘fashionable’.
Game Of Thrones, meanwhile, recently kicked off its eighth season, leaving all manner of questions in its wake.
Game Of Thrones continues on HBO and Sky Atlantic next Sunday. Seasons one to seven are available to stream on NOW TV.
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