GROWING UP ON ‘GAME OF THRONES’ Sophie Turner has learnt a thing or two about fierceness.

Like her character, Sansa Stark, the young star has learnt a thing or two about fierceness

WWhen 12-year-old Sophie Turner auditioned for the role of Sansa Stark at a Game of Thrones casting call, she had no idea what lay ahead. At the time, she was a school student in the small English village of Chesterton, and “I didn’t know HBO, I didn’t know Game of Thrones, I didn’t know George R.R. Martin—i barely knew what TV was,” she recalled of the experience. Now, nine years later, Turner, 21, has not only stayed alive on the fictional continent of Westeros, with its white walkers, wildlings and fire-breathing dragons, she has also calmly navigated her way through the equally daunting world of Hollywood.

As the biggest show on television airs its penultimate season, Turner says she and Sansa have both been on an epic journey. “We’ve been through so much together,” she says. “Everything that’s happened makes her who she is today. I can relate.” Indeed, just as the regal Sansa has grown stronger, shrewder and less naive over the years, so has Turner.

She’s also landed her first major film role, as Jean Grey in X-men: Dark Phoenix. Her personal life has undergone a makeover as well; she’s been dating singer Joe Jonas, 27, since November. Though the actress told WHO she prefers to keep her relationship private, at the July 12 Game of Thrones Los Angeles premiere she told reporters, “The key is to remember that it’s just like any other relationship. If you’re in Hollywood or Africa, it’s all the same. Just love and be loved.”

Turner’s road to happiness has had some bumps along the way, though. She went from a young teen to an adult in front of 25 million viewers, which she says wasn’t easy: “That’s definitely been tricky to deal with—you’re growing up, and hormones and puberty and everything’s kind of hitting you all at once.” The online criticism kicked into high gear and on a more serious level in 2015 when her character was raped; the graphic and controversial scene sparked outrage from viewers who complained that the show went too far. But Turner took that experience and used it as a chance to educate herself about sexual assault, reaching out to the charity Women for Women International. She also recently took a trip to Rwanda to meet with victims of sexual assault. And her character got revenge at the end of GOT’S sixth season. “She finally had the strength to know what she wanted to do and do it her way,” says Turner of experiencing Sansa’s “first kill.” “It was incredibly satisfying. That was my favourite scene so far.”

When Turner still occasionally finds herself struggling with Thrones fandom or the intense plotlines, she’s been able to rely on the tight-knit cast for support, including close friend Maisie Williams, 20, who plays her onscreen sister Arya. “We all have an exhausting time playing our characters because it’s heavy stuff,” she says. “But we’re such close friends that normally it’s just a trip to the bar to unwind.”

For the most part, though, she’s still delighted with the role of a lifetime. “I’m so thankful to have gotten this job so early on,” she says. “It was the best drama class I could have ever asked for. A real gift.”