It wasn’t too long ago that Sophie Turner seemed primed to take over the world. The actress sprang into the public eye when she was 15, starring as Sansa Stark in the wildly popular HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Over eight seasons of the program, Turner was one of the few cast members who made it from the show’s pilot to its final episode, growing up in the harsh spotlight just as Sansa was growing up in the cruel world of Westeros.

Compared to others in the cast of “Game of Thrones” after the show ended, Turner was ready for a long career once she hung up her cloak as Sansa. The actor landed a starring role in Fox’s Marvel film universe, and had a high-profile relationship with American pop singer Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. In 2019, the same year that “Game of Thrones” ended, Turner appeared in the band’s music video for “Sucker,” the group’s first No. 1 single after reuniting. 

Even though Turner appeared poised for even more success, the next few years were quiet ones for the former Winterfell resident. It wasn’t until 2023 that the actor began to make headlines again, which caused former fans of Sansa Stark to wonder: what has Sophie Turner been up to all these years?

Sophie Turner was unfortunately one of many “Game of Thrones” stars who dealt with serious mental health issues during their tenure on the show. However, she had to experience it all during her teens, and didn’t really identify her struggles until she was 17. During a conversation on Dr. Phil’s podcast “Phil in the Blanks,” she said her mental health “only started to go downhill when I started to hit puberty and I was gaining weight. Then there was the social media scrutiny and everything — that was when it kind of hit me.”

On top of that, the show she was gaining notoriety for wasn’t exactly a healthy thing for a teenager to be watching and experiencing. While Turner had fun on the show’s set, that mainly derived from a need to counteract the heavy material that would otherwise weigh on her. 

Facing criticism for her body or her acting at such a young age was enough to send Turner spiraling in the years to come, as she battled an eating disorder. At one point, she even had to hire a live-in therapist to monitor her unhealthy eating habits, which she credits with helping her reshape her relationship to her own self-image. If only Sansa had access to the same kind of treatment Turner was lucky enough to seek out, things might have looked a lot different for the character. 

Just as Sophie Turner struggled with her declining mental health in the public eye, the end of her time as Sansa Stark was also quite difficult for the actor to process. By the time the “Game of Thrones” series finale aired in 2019, she had been playing the role of Sansa for a decade, taking the character from precocious young lady to traumatized captive to hardened leader, all in the span of eight seasons. At the very least, Turner got to relish the character having a fitting ending compared to most others on the show. 

Still, letting go of the character she had grown up with wasn’t easy, as she recounted in an Instagram post the day the finale aired. “Thank you for teaching me resilience, bravery and what true strength really is,” she wrote. As for moving on, the actor later credited Joe Jonas for helping her figure out what her life would look like post-“Game of Thrones.” 

While it must have been a confusing experience to say goodbye to Sansa at the time, she was also adamant about leaving the character in the past, confirming shortly after the finale aired that she didn’t want to reprise the role in the future. 

Although the end of “Game of Thrones” was a hard thing to accept, there was a lot for Sophie Turner to look forward to in 2019. Three years earlier, the actor had made her superhero debut in “X-Men: Apocalypse” as a young Jean Grey, the mutant who eventually becomes a villainous traitor to the iconic Marvel team. That opportunity for Turner came with 2019’s “Dark Phoenix,” which adapted the comic book saga of the same name. 

Coming hot off her tenure on “Game of Thrones,” the movie seemed like the perfect opportunity to utilize the acting prowess Turner had displayed throughout the HBO series. However, “Dark Phoenix” bombed at the box office, garnering poor reviews across the board as well. On the bright side, some reviews did commend Turner’s performance for holding the film together, though clearly it wasn’t enough to make up for all its flaws. 

At the time, it still seemed as if Turner would brush off the “Dark Phoenix” debacle and continue with her movie career, with media analyst Paul Dergarabedian telling Vanity Fair that, despite the film’s financial failure, “That’s a lot of people from many different cultures and countries seeing Sophie Turner beyond the Sansa Stark role, and that’s no small thing … that’s a currency that really is profound in its impact.” However, the biggest twist in Turner’s life was yet to come. 

Sophie Turner had her whole career ahead of her as “Game of Thrones” came to an end. Everything changed when she was 24 years old, and discovered that she was pregnant on a trip to Bali. Like most young adults, Turner struggled with the idea of becoming a mother so early on, but told British Vogue, “I really didn’t know if I wanted to be a mother, but something changed in me that day. I just knew I had to have her.”

Turner’s first child with Joe Jonas, Willa, was born in 2020, which ended up being a pretty inconvenient time to give birth. However, the pandemic and lockdown only gave Turner more time to spend with her newborn, who was quickly given a little sister, Delphine, in 2022. The decision to have two children in her early to mid-20s has been nothing but positive for Turner, particularly in terms of her own body image and especially after a long adolescence fielding negative comments about her appearance.

More importantly, having two kids forced Turner to grow up a lot faster, which had its pros and cons. On the one hand, she’s been incredibly busy raising the next generation instead of basking in potential movie stardom like many “Game of Thrones” fans expected of her. 

Sophie Turner’s on-screen appearances were few and far between in the past few years as she focused on raising her children. When she did pop up in various projects, though, she reminded audiences what they were missing. One of those was “Do Revenge,” a 2022 Netflix comedy starring Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes as two teens who team up to enact vengeance on those who have wronged them. Turner’s role in the movie may have been small, but it sure was memorable.

In the film, Turner plays Erica, a tennis camper who is framed by Mendes’ character for possession of cocaine, leading to her being dragged out by force. Turner told Empire that she worked on channeling some classic on-screen freakouts: “For most of my career, I’ve been playing someone who has a lot of pent-up feelings,” she said. “I’ve been longing for a scene where one of my characters was able to scream and cry and shout and push people around.”

The scene — particularly Turner’s outraged delivery of “I don’t do cocaine!” — ended up getting a lot of viral attention, especially since the performance was so different from roles like Sansa Stark. Hopefully, in the future there will be a movie like “Do Revenge” to watch that stars Sophie Turner in a role like this. 

As it turns out, being married to a world-famous pop star isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sophie Turner’s relationship with Joe Jonas was tabloid fodder well before “Game of Thrones” ended, but as the years passed, it began to overshadow her work as an actor. Turner was often seen attending Jonas Brothers concerts throughout the relationship, even less than a month before the marriage ended, sparking headlines for her outfits and dancing. 

Turner later admitted that the pressures of being so heavily associated with the Jonas Brothers were heavy, especially as it became more of her identity. She despised being grouped into “the wives” with Priyanka Chopra and Danielle Jonas, telling British Vogue, “It was kind of this plus-one feeling. And that’s nothing to do with him — in no way did he make me feel that — it was just that the perception of us was as the groupies in the band.”

Even when Turner did appear in the public eye during these years, it was often related to her husband. For instance, her set during Netflix’s “Jonas Brothers Family Roast” went viral for the brutal insults she hurled towards Joe and his brothers. Sadly, things only got worse between the celebrity couple, and it did not end as gracefully as their fans might have hoped. 

Pop culture fans were shocked in 2023 when it was reported that Joe Jonas was planning on filing for divorce from Sophie Turner. The news was later confirmed by the couple via social media, who shared on Instagram, “There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.” Sadly, those wishes weren’t respected for long, as cryptic tabloid reports indicated there was drama to be uncovered.

Despite initial press that favored Jonas in the divorce, public sentiment took Turner’s side, with claims that she was a “partier” disputed by previous interviews where the actor indicated the opposite. Things only got more publicly messy when, after weeks of staying silent, Turner filed a lawsuit against Jonas for refusing to turn over the children’s passports to let them return to England with their mother. After months of divorce proceedings, the two ended up reaching a temporary custody agreement for the rest of 2023.

While it may have been an entertaining saga for people online, the drama had real-life consequences for those involved. Turner told British Vogue that she struggled to keep everything together in the midst of filming a television series, saying, “There were some days that I didn’t know if I was going to make it … finally, after two weeks of me being in a rut, [my lawyer] reminded me that it was my children I was fighting for.” 

Thankfully, Sophie Turner wasn’t alone in facing something as traumatic as a messy public divorce. Shortly after filing a lawsuit against her soon-to-be-ex-husband, the actor made headlines when she was spotted grabbing dinner in New York City with none other than Taylor Swift, a notable ex of Joe Jonas. It was eventually reported by tabloids that Swift had lent her Tribeca apartment to Turner and her children while divorce proceedings took place. 

If the court of public opinion had already been taking Turner’s side in the breakup drama, the added bonus of buddying up with Swift only elicited more support for the “Game of Thrones” star. Turner continued to pop up in public with Swift throughout the fall of 2023, even attending a Kansas City Chiefs game at MetLife Stadium with an all-star line-up of Swift’s famous friends, including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Hugh Jackman, and Sabrina Carpenter. 

Turner later told British Vogue just how much of a saving grace Swift was for her, saying, “I’ve never been more grateful to anyone than I am for her because she took my children and me, and provided us with a home and a safe space.” The actor returned the favor by supporting Swift at the Eras Tour in London, which hopefully provided her with some hard-earned catharsis by getting to scream “All Too Well” along with celebrities like Paul McCartney and Gracie Abrams. 

Many people would be leveled by the kind of chaos Sophie Turner experienced in 2023, but the actor didn’t let her divorce drama stop her from pursuing a new relationship. In October 2023, the actor was seen sharing a kiss with British aristocrat Peregrine Pearson, sparking rumors that the two were an item. However, unlike the whirlwind that was dating a pop star, Turner seems to have taken things slowly with her new beau, making sure to keep it from becoming another gossip-y romance.

She seemed to confirm that the relationship was at least legit via Instagram, sharing a photo of the pair on a ski trip, and has since tagged him in social media posts showcasing her off-screen life. They made their debut together as a couple in March 2024, attending Stanley Zhu’s Year of the Dragon party in London, and later were spotted at Paris Fashion Week. 

Given how public her marriage with Joe Jonas was, especially towards the end, it’s not surprising to see Turner embrace a more low-key romance with Pearson. Plus Jonas isn’t going anywhere, given that the two are continuing to co-parent their children together and agreeing that should be their number one priority. 

It’s about time that Sophie Turner resumes the Hollywood takeover she was bound for after “Game of Thrones” ended. She’s set to make her return to television in fall 2024 with the title role in the six-episode miniseries “Joan,” the real-life story of prolific English jewel thief Joan Hannington. Turner was filming the series as the divorce drama with Joe Jonas was publicly playing out, and fans will get to see the fruits of her labor when the series premieres on ITVX in the U.K. and The CW in the United States.

It’s too early to say whether “Joan” will merit consideration as one of the best CW shows of all time, but it seems that the network has high hopes for it. Not only have they cut back on scripted programming in recent years, but network executive Brad Schwartz has teased that Turner’s performance may garner award nominations, telling TV’s Top Five, “The dailies look amazing, Sophie Turner is phenomenal, and I’m really, really excited about that one.”

While “Joan” wouldn’t be Sophie Turner’s first chance at winning an Emmy, having earned a nomination for best supporting actress in a drama series for “Game of Thrones” in 2019, “Joan” could nab Turner her first lead actress nod. After the year she’s had personally, it wouldn’t be surprising if “Joan” took off in popularity out of support for Turner’s future career. 

After “Joan,” there’s a lot for Sophie Turner’s fans to look forward to, with the actor’s schedule fully loaded for the next few years. She’s already started filming her next TV project, the Prime Video series “Haven,” which will star Turner as a pension fund office worker who is forced to help a group of thieves steal billions from the company. The actor has been spotted on set in the summer of 2024 performing stunts, hinting at the promise of a lot of action from the “Game of Thrones” star.

Speaking of “Game of Thrones,” Turner will also reunite with her on-screen half-brother, Kit Harington, in “The Dreadful,” a new horror movie from director Natasha Kermani. In the flick, set during the War of the Roses (ironically, the inspiration for “Game of Thrones”), Turner plays a woman whose life is upended when Harington’s character re-enters her life. Turner reacted to the news on Instagram, sharing, “I mean we couldn’t NOT hang out again ya know.” Fans of the Stark family tree will definitely be grabbing their popcorn when that film is released. 

Turner’s other future projects include “Trust,” a thriller from “Saw” production company Twisted Pictures, and “Cloud One,” a sci-fi film co-starring Boyd Holbrook from “The Sandman” and Simona Tabasco of “The White Lotus” fame. 

Nobody, not even Sophie Turner, could have seen where her life was headed after “Game of Thrones” ended five years ago. It may not be the career anyone expected her to have, but the future has never seemed brighter for Turner, who told Harper’s Bazaar, “I’m kind of embracing this lighter, fresher kind of energy around me,” as she enjoys her first summer post-divorce. 

The last few years have definitely earned Turner some much-needed rest and relaxation, though she seems a lot better now than anyone could have anticipated after the turmoil of her divorce. In fact, she may have learned a lot from Sansa Stark after all, as she’s handled tremendous life experiences with the “resilience, bravery, and … true strength” she credited the character for back when the “Game of Thrones” finale was about to air. 

While Sophie Turner’s not likely to play Sansa again, she has admitted that she misses the feeling of wearing the character’s clothes, saying, “I literally have never felt more powerful in my life than when I was wearing the costumes.” She may well be ready, however, to feel powerful again all on her own.