Turner, revealing a maturity far beyond
her 23 years. “Leaving that behind and
having this open space to fill up in front
of you is quite nerve-racking but it’s also
really liberating. Now we get all 12 months
of the year – not just four months of the
year – to find a job, so we get to work
on a lot of things, which is really exciting.
And create and go on holiday – lots of
things we couldn’t do before.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Williams,
who turned 22 in April.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure now,
indirectly,” she begins. “People have always
said to me, ‘You’re gonna come out of this
contract, you’re going to be 21 and you’re
going to have all these opportunities,’ and
it’s not until you’re in that [position] that
you’re like, ‘Well what do I want? Where do
I want to take my life now?’ The pressure
of other people being like, ‘Are you ever
going to do anything as good as the show
again?’ Well I feel very confident that I’m
going to do a lot of great things with my
life, but I’m not sure what the scale is
that you’re going to put them on, so that’s
kind of nerve-racking. But throughout this
industry, I guess we’ve just tried to learn
W
hen you’ve grown up in front
of a worldwide audience of
tens of millions on the biggest
series in the history of TV, as
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams have
- aged 14 and 13 respectively when filming
began on Game of Thrones in 2010 – you
could be forgiven for feeling anxious about
what comes next professionally once the
show wraps. Can any other role possibly
live up to this one? Will they ever work so
steadily again? Can they segue small-screen
success into a big-screen career?
Truth be told, it will be near impossible
to top the ratings juggernaut that is Game
of Thrones, which comes to its much-hyped
conclusion this month after eight phenomenal
seasons. But a decade spent portraying two
of the toughest young women on television
- who have overcome absolutely shocking
adversity to be in with a shot at the Iron
Throne – has clearly seen some of that
courage and tenacity rub off.
“There’s a certain nervousness that comes
with [finishing on] a show that has basically
been your safety net for the past 10 years,
leaving behind a character that you know
is so good for you and your career,” says
Sophie Turner says her
character Sansa “usesthese terrible experiences...
to make her stronger”
GAME OF THRONES (s8)
Stream* or watch with the world, new episodes every week, Mondays at 11am and
ENCORE at 8.30pm on FOX SHOWCASE [115] available in the DRAMA pack
Sophie Turner (left) and
Maisie Williams consider
each other sisters both
on- and off-screenFoxtel MAY 17
DRAMA
SPECIAL