Some spoilers for Josie below.
You’d be forgiven for failing to recognize Sophie Turner when she first appears in Josie. She’s blonde, for one, ditching the red hair that she’s famous for as Game of Thrones’s Sansa, she’s sporting multiple tattoos, and she’s got a Southern drawl that places her miles away from Westeros. “This is one of the most transformative roles I think I’ve done so far,” Sophie Turner says of Josie, a young woman who turns a sleepy Southern town on its head when it seems that her relationship with an older man (Dylan McDermott) may be more than just platonic. But don’t let appearances fool you: In Josie, much like in Game of Thrones, nobody’s quite who they say they are. Before the movie’s March 16 release, Vulture caught up with Turner to talk about the ins and outs of learning an accent for the film, method acting, and why she’d love to do a comedy.
Without spoiling anything, I’m curious to know how this movie was pitched to you, because it has so many layers to it. Did they tell you the whole story straight off the bat, or did you read the script first?
I was pretty much sent the script straight away — there was no real pitching. I knew the references that Eric [England], the director, had for me were like Killer Joe and True Romance, so I kind of brushed up on those movies. I read the script, watched the movies, and then I implemented a little bit of Alabama Worley in True Romance into it, and obviously the Killer Joe part.
When I spoke to Eric after I read the script, he wanted it to not even give any real hint of a thriller until the very end. We wanted it to be light and bright, and have Josie be this beacon of fun and laughter and light.
The movie also reminded me a lot of Ellen Page’s Hard Candy, insomuch as it features this young woman who’s really weaponized her sexuality. Was there anything that you were kind of wary of in playing this part, particularly because of how young the character’s supposed to be?
Not really, because that’s kind of the whole point of the character. She has to be young and it has to be questionable. It has to be incredibly intriguing that this young girl is so sure of herself, owning her sexuality and completely independent. That’s the alluring thing about her for [McDermott’s character] Hank. There was really no discussion about aging her up or anything, because it felt like it had to be that. Also, actually, the real Josie — obviously “Josie” is this facade that this girl has put on — I think we discussed that her real age was 21, and pretending to be 17. So it was all part of the plan.
What were the conversations like during filming between you and the director, as well as with Dylan McDermott?
Dylan was in character pretty much from the get-go. He went pretty method, actually. It was really, really interesting to see; I’ve never worked with someone who’d kind of gone method before. But going around to his house and having rehearsal, he would have it set up, like, he would be playing country music, and he would open the door and he would have his boots on, and he would talk in a Southern accent. He was 100 percent committed to the role. We would have rehearsals, and Eric and I would talk about the script, but honestly, that was the most interesting thing for me. He would be in his trailer smoking cigars, listening to country music. It was fascinating.
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“I’m excited to be something more than just an actress.”
When our photographer asks Sophie Turner to sit comfortably on a long, white couch, the actress can hardly contain herself. She jokingly places one foot on the cushion in front of her and lunges forward, glancing back at the camera as if to say, “Does this work?” In response to our laughs, she plops down facing us and sits with her legs spread wide—one more silly suggestion before getting serious.
It’s nice to see this side of Turner, who is promoting Wella hair care (namely her favorites, Wella’s WellaPlex, an in-salon color treatment, and FusionPlex, the at-home care system). Her show Game of Thrones isn’t exactly a comedy, and while I’ve never assumed that Sophie and her character, Sansa, were alike—being all serious and ruler-y and sometimes a little murderous—the contrast between the two is surprising. Seeing Turner in person makes me wonder about her day-to-day: Is she this sarcastic and funny all the time? Is that why she and Joe Jonas make such a great couple? What about her friendship with Maisie Williams? Does Williams act like this, too?
But before I can ask personal questions, I remind myself that we’re here to talk about hair—and the actress’s is of course sleek and shiny and catching the perfect amount of sunlight.
“We did it over three different dyes to ensure that it was in perfect condition,” she tells me, after I ask how long it took to get to this shade. “But to be honest, with WellaPlex, even with one dye it would still be in perfect condition. Going from red to blonde is one of the hardest dye jobs to do. WellaPlex balances the effects that a normal dye would have on your hair and completely heals it.”
Now no drastic hair change is off-limits.
“I’d probably go multi-colored next. When I finish Game of Thrones, I’m going crazy.”
That’s when my stomach drops. I don’t want to think about the hit HBO show ending or saying goodbye to characters I love. There’s still so much that can happen in the eighth and final season. What will I watch on Sundays?!
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We have a feeling Sophie Turner might be on a mission to slowly but surely break our hearts into teeny tiny pieces at the moment.
If it’s not her confirmation that season eight of Game of Thrones won’t air until 2019, it’s the actress’ recent revelation of what exactly happened when the show’s famous cast and crew joined together for the final read-through of the hit series.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the star – who plays Sansa Stark in GOT – revealed: ‘At the end of the very last script, they read aloud, “End of Game of Thrones”.’
‘As soon as they read that out, pretty much everyone burst into tears,’ she explained.
‘There was a standing ovation for [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss]. We were all clapping and cheering. It was amazing.’
Describing the moment as a ‘shock to the system’, the newly-engaged Brit said: ‘We actually realised, reading that “end of Game of Thrones line” [at the end of the table read], that that was it. When you’re in it, you don’t really see an end point.
‘It’s just an ongoing thing you’re living with. It was a real shock. It was really sad, but there was an immense amount of pride, too.’
Turner’s description of the final cast reading mirrors that of her co-star and onscreen brother Kit Harington’s reaction to the end of the series.
In an appearance on The One Show earlier this year, the 30-year-old – who was recently spotted selling pine trees in Scotland – admitted he was reduced to tears.
‘We had the read-through last week, in fact, so I know everything now,’ he said.
‘I cried at the end! It wasn’t anything particular that happens. You have to remember, I’ve done eight years of it. I think, no-one really cares about it more than us.’
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Sophie Turner’s independent drama “Josie” has been selected as the opening night film for the inaugural Mammoth Film Festival on Feb. 8, Variety has learned exclusively.
The film, formerly titled “Huntsville,” also stars Dylan McDermott and Jack Kilmer. It’s directed by Eric England from a screenplay by Anthony Ragnone II. The script, which made the 2014 Black List, centers on a solitary man living a dull existence in the sleepy town. He raises eyebrows when he develops a questionable relationship with a recently transplanted high school student.
Turner is best known for her role as Sansa Stark in “Game of Thrones.” She portrayed Jean Grey in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
The festival, which is being billed as a mini-Sundance, runs from Feb. 8 to Feb. 11 and will feature other indie world premieres, studio films, shorts, and episodics.
“It’s a real honor to have such a prestigious title as ‘Josie’ open our first ever Mammoth Film Festival,” said founder Tanner Beard. “Despite this being our inaugural event, we’re incredibly proud that our festival will be able to compete on a global scale with our world premieres and attractive titles that distributors are sure to be excited about.”
Beard is an executive producer of Terrence Malick’s “Song to Song,” “Voyage of Time,” and “Knight of Cups.” The board members include Jay Cohen from Gersh and Ryan Black from Grindstone/Lionsgate. Beard, Tomik Mansoori, Theo Dumont, and Daniel Sol founded the festival.
“Josie” is produced by Luisa Iskin, Johnny Wunder, Jeff Kalligheri, and Kevin Matusow. The exec producers are Carissa Buffel, Steven Chester Prince, Fouad Mikati, Candice Abela, Karam Abulhusn, Stephen Bowen, Ash Sarohia, and Lauren Russell. The film was produced by the Coalition Group in association with the Traveling Picture Show Company, Waterstone Entertainment, and Boo Pictures. [Source]
Sophie Turner has grown up as an actor on “Game of Thrones.” She was 14 when she shot the first season of the HBO series, which premiered in 2011. Now, two months into shooting the show’s eighth and final season, she is preparing to leave the job that effectively launched her career — which now includes a key role in Fox’s “X-Men” film franchise — and embark on the next stage of her career.
But first there is season eight of “Thrones,” which began shooting in October and HBO says will premiere in either 2018 or 2019. (The premium service originally announced the former as the target for a debut, but has in recent months indicated that the latter might be more realistic.) After a year out of cycle at the Emmys, “Thrones” returns to awards contention with the upcoming Golden Globes.
Turner spoke with Variety about her growth as an actor playing Sansa Stark on the series, the upcoming season, and her post-Westeros plans.
What was your favorite scene from last season?
It was probably the moment that you realized that Sansa was going to kill Littlefinger [Aidan Gillen] and does kill him, and when you realize that Sansa and Arya Maisie [Maisie Williams] had been scheming behind Litlefinger’s back, which is a pretty impressive thing to do for two young girls against a master manipulator. It was just a really powerful moment for her, to have used up all of her master’s lessons and finally discard him. The student becomes the master now.
That scene was your last with Aidan Gillen, who you’ve worked with a lot over the series. What was it like to be working with him for the last time.
It was really hard, because out of all the people I’ve worked with on the show, he has been the one who was consistent throughout, from season one to season seven. He has been my “Game of Thrones” experience. He’s been the backbone of it for me. So to say goodbye to him was pretty hard, especially because life imitated art in a way, because he was also my mentor. I learned so many lessons just by watching him act. It was this weird parallel, and an emotional thing for everyone.
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