“SHE’S THE KEY TO THE NORTH!”

Sophie Turner is Sansa

Where do we find Sansa at the beginning of season five?

At the end of season four we saw her just about to go on a tour of the Vale so that’s where she’s popping off to. There’s more of an emotional journey to it as well – she’s really escaping from her Stark and Tully roots and she’s just becoming her own house, her own person. She’s also forming a little duo with Littlefinger [ Aidan Gillen]. For the first time in her life she has a little bit of power over someone – he’s not going to want to kill her, is he? She’s the key to the North. That’s quite a turnaround for the girl who was always being manipulated by everyone else…

The past four seasons she’s always been very down in the dumps, suffering at the hands of everyone else. I mean she always manipulated herself too, but it was very much wearing the façade of this vulnerable young girl. Now she can pull strings out in the open. She’s like a force to be reckoned with. How did you feel when you first saw Sansa version two, with the dark hair and the dark outfit?

It was amazing. Previously she was just so downtrodden all the time. Then I finally put on this costume – and it fits her perfectly, she’s made it herself and she’s proud to be wearing it. All in all it gave me a lot of power. What can you tell us about the new season of Game Of Thrones?

Hmm. I have to be careful! But Sansa sees a few familiar faces. There’s a big shock and she goes through a lot of hardships this season. But she approaches them very differently because of this whole new mentality that she has.