Turner Prize

She’s shaping up to be one of the Game Of Thrones’of an L.A power couple. But as Sophie Turner tells Lucy Pavia, her bullshit detector remains firmly intact.most exciting success stories, and is officially one half

- Lucy Pavia

There’s a good reason Sophie Turner can remember every detail of her first Game Of Thrones audition: it very nearly didn’t happen. In the summer of 2009, casting directors for a new TV show took their search for two young actresses to schools across the country. Having won rave reviews for her performance of a scarecrow in an amateur production of The Wizard Of Oz, 13-year old Turner was, naturally, put forward – only, on the day, she forgot, and went to the canteen. Her drama teacher spotted her in the lunch queue and ushered her away. “She was like, ‘Er, Sophie, you have that audition?’”

As she talks, I can’t help imagining the alternate reality of Sophie Turner had she stayed in line for her Angel Delight. Now 21, she’d probably be gearing up for her third year at university and stressing about her student loan, not steaming into her seventh season of what is officially the biggest TV show of all time. She would not be famous, as Sansa Stark, in 170 countries. She would (probably) not be dating a Jonas brother.

Post cover shoot, the heavens have opened and our room in an east London studio rumbles like an empty drum. Turner’s just changed out of a peach Louis Vuitton frock (not before insisting I ‘cop a feel’ of the spongy wool skirt) and sits next to me in a striped Topshop tee, a pair of teal velour sports shorts and black leather Adidas trainers. Actresses often seem more fragile in the flesh than they do on screen, but with Turner it’s actually the opposite: the cool porcelain Sansa isn’t a match for the vigorous real-life Sophie.