Sophie Turner: My life was on pause until I returned to England

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Sophie Turner has said she felt her life was “on pause” until she returned to England from the US.

The Game Of Thrones actress, 28, lived in America during her marriage to singer Joe Jonas, whom she shares two children with.

It was reported last month that their divorce had been finalised, bringing an end to a split that briefly became acrimonious.

Turner spoke to Harper’s Bazaar UK for its December/January issue and has been announced as the recipient of the performance award for the publication’s Women Of The Year Awards 2024.

Speaking about her life in the US, she told the magazine: “Every city we ended up in, the first thing I’d do was find a British shop and stock up on a month’s worth of chocolate.”

Reflecting on the country’s politics, she added: “The gun violence, Roe v Wade being overturned … everything just kind of piled on.”

“I’m so happy to be back”, she continued.

“It felt as if my life was on pause until I returned to England.

“I just never really feel like myself when I’m not in London, with my friends and family.

“I was away for so long – six years – and it was when my friends were getting engaged, and when I got pregnant.

“I went for dinner with someone the other day, and she said, ‘I never got to touch your belly.’ We didn’t have those key experiences with each other.”

Turner stars in new ITV drama series, Joan, based on Joan Hannington’s life in the 1980s as a mother, lover, liar, and one of Britain’s most notorious thieves.

She told Harper’s Bazaar: “I’d never led a TV show before, and I feel as if it’s far more challenging than a big movie like X-Men.

“There are so many people behind that, so many opinions.

“They make all the decisions, and you just kind of say, ‘Yes, OK, whatever needs to be done.’

“Whereas with Joan, I had so much say in it, and it was so collaborative … it feels like I’m releasing something that’s very near and dear to my heart.”

Turner and Jonas married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel in 2019.

According to papers obtained by the Associated Press news agency, Jonas filed for divorce in Florida’s Miami-Dade County Court last year citing the marriage being “irretrievably broken”.

Turner, who is from Northampton, played Sansa Stark for eight seasons on HBO’s Game Of Thrones and Jean Grey in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and 2019’s Dark Phoenix.

The December/January issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK is on sale from November 6th.

Turner will receive the performance award at the Harper’s Bazaar Women Of The Year Awards 2024 on November 5th.