If you’ve spent any time on TikTok, you’re probably aware that Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner and her husband Joe Jonas are practically the cutest and goofiest couple ever. They have been married for a few years now, and their cuteness has only become more amplified by their adorable baby Willa. Apparently having the little girl has changed her mother professionally as well as personally. Turner has now opened up about how motherhood has boosted her acting talents, and it totally makes sense.
In an interview on the podcast UnWrapped, Sophie Turner discussed her new HBO Max true crime series The Staircase, and how she feels about heading into unknown waters with a genre she’s not so accustomed to. No matter the genre, Turner talked about how becoming a mother has made her a better actor on the whole, and has deepened her ability to feel empathy. Here’s how she feels the life-changing experience factored into her professional talents:
The concept of family has made me an entirely much more emotional person. The empathy is heightened; the feelings about family are just like overflowing. It’s made me a better actor for becoming, you know, becoming a mother.
Sophie Turner has been a mother for over a year now, and she and Joe Jonas are currently expecting their second child. The two, along with a number of other celebrities, have chosen not to show their child’s face on social media. However, the two stars have openly gushed about Willa and their new found parenthood, and seem to be living their best lives as parents, so it makes a ton of sense why Turner is finding parenthood a kind of muse for her acting career.
It’s kind of like Sophie Turner has joined a select club comprising women in Hollywood who have to balance acting and their life as a mother. Actresses like Halle Berry have spoken out about the “mom guilt” they feel over continuing to work after becoming a mother, which is a feeling that a lot of working moms can relate to. Turner, however, seems like she’s really embracing both sides to her life now and making them work together to improve her onscreen performances.
In the same interview, Sophie Turner goes on to talk about what she feels is the best way to become truly “brilliant,” and how raising little Willa is playing into that viewpoint. The actress said:
As an actor, the only way to become a really brilliant actor is to experience as much life as possible and to bring those experiences in, and so this is just another little part of life that I’m experiencing that I get to bring in and hopefully it helps my performance one way or another.
Parenthood is a pretty extreme experience, and it’s always transforming into something completely new, especially in a child’s earliest years. I’m sure there are plenty of parents out there who completely lose all traces of empathy after a child’s screaming begins, so power to Sophie Turner for embracing that instead of ignoring it. Acting can certainly be transformative as well, as actresses like Sophie Turner basically need to turn into completely different people from role to role.
In her current role, Sophie Turner returned to her Game of Thrones roots within the HBO family, though this time portraying a real, living person for the first time in her career. The first 3 episodes of The Staircase mini-series, which explores the suspicious death of Kathleen Peterson, will be released to stream for those who have an HBO Max subscription on May 5th. The remaining episodes will be released to the streaming platform once a week following the initial release, giving fans ample chances to see how motherhood has honed her acting chops from one HBO role to another.
