Sophie Turner Grows Into Her Powers in Game of Thrones and X-Men; Time, 5/24/16

Eliana Dockterman, Time; Sophie Turner Grows Into Her Powers in Game of Thrones and X-Men:

"It’s a conversation that has since shaped her views on how women are portrayed on TV and in film. “I wasn’t thinking about these issues when I first started acting. But it’s made me think a lot more about it,” she says. “In my opinion, Game of Thrones is not sexist, and it’s accurate to medieval times. The show puts social boundaries on the women, and they break out of those boundaries. I think it’s quite a feminist show.”

In fact, she says the debate pushed her toward Jean Grey, who in this latest X-Men installment teams up with Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique and others to defeat an ancient and evil mutant named Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). Throughout the series, the mutants have faced discrimination, and the moral of every film–including, spoiler alert, this one–is that embracing diversity will save the world. “What we’re going through today with conversations around sexism and racism, I think the themes of X-Men will really resonate with everyone,” she says...

There will be two more seasons of Thrones, and X-Men director Bryan Singer has teased an Apocalypse sequel based on the Dark Phoenix plot from the comic books with Jean Grey at its center. Meanwhile, debates about empowerment and representation will continue. Under pressure, Turner, like Sansa and Jean, is slowly discovering her powers and will soon be ready to fully employ them."