Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner talks joining X-Men: Apocalypse as the new Jean Grey.
Sophie Turner has grown up in front of our eyes, starting work on Game of Thrones when she was only 14. Now she’s nearly 19, and lining up other, exciting projects.
Most notably, Turner has been revealed as Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse, taking over from Famke Janssen to play the younger version of the character.
Related: Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, and Alexandra Shipp join X-Men: Apocalypse cast
Speaking to IGN about the casting, she speculates, “I think maybe one of the reasons that they chose me for [Jean] is because they saw the dark side of Sansa. Maybe they’re thinking, ‘Oh, Phoenix, Jean Grey.'”
In Game of Thrones season 4, Sansa went a little bit dark side, a welcome change for fans hoping to see the character stand up and fight for herself.
Related: Game of Thrones season 5: First trailer, stills released
Turner admits that she sees a lot of parallels between Jean and Sansa, saying, “[Jean] struggles with her power… and not being accepted in the human world. I think in terms of [Game of Thrones], that’s kind of the way Sansa felt in that she really wanted to be a normal princess/queen and live a normal life — and she doesn’t, because of all this havoc happens. I think Jean, in a way, feels that.”
X-Men fans will also be happy to hear that Turner will let the comics inspire her performance.
“I want to emulate Famke [Janssen] in a sense, because she has to seem like the Jean in the first two movies, but I’m also going to put my own twist on her,” Turner says.