Sophie Turner has always been honest about her ongoing struggle with depression and anxiety. Now, the Game of Thrones star has revealed that she’s taking a step back from acting to focus on her mental health and wellbeing.
“I am actually still on my break,” she told Dr Phil McGraw during an appearance on his podcast, Phil in the Blanks. “I took a break off work to focus on my mental health because I thought it was important. So I’m still on that, and I’m just about to go into press for the final season of Game Of Thrones and a movie Dark Phoenix that I did. The latest X-Men [movie] is about to come out in June, so I’m getting ready for a big press tour for that.”
Turner, who first appeared on the small screen at the age of 13 in GoT, has grown up in the spotlight. The show wrapped in 2018, and the final season aired earlier this week. Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, may even want to step away from the industry altogether. “I want to do a lot of things, and not just in the film world,” she explained. “At the moment I have a real urge to go to a police academy and become a cop. I’m fascinated by crime and why people do things and the interrogation process, and how you can manipulate your words in order to get someone to confess, that interests me.”
Set to wed this summer, Turner believes her fiancé, Joe Jonas, has helped her through her mental health issues – especially when she’s experienced moments of not wanting to leave the house or see anyone. “Even with my best friends, I wouldn’t want to see them,” she said. “I would cry and cry and cry. Just having to change and put on clothes, I said, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t go outside. I have nothing that I want to do’. I love myself now, or more than I used to. I’m now with someone that makes me realise, you know, that I do have some redeeming qualities, I suppose, and when someone tells you they love you every day, it makes you realise why that is, and I think it makes you love yourself a bit more.”
