Sophie Turner bid farewell to playing Sansa Stark as Game of Thrones came to its highly publicized end, with the final episode airing in 2019. Turner has subsequently shared how she felt about Sansa’s ending, and is now responding to questions about whether she would want to return to the Thrones franchise for prequels and/or spinoffs, and what it might take to get her involved.
Hint: it would involve a lot of dollar signs! Sophie Turner was at the SAG Awards for one final night of Game of Thrones nominations, when talk turned to Thrones’ future continuations. (HBO cancelled the original prequel before giving the green-light to the Targaryen-centric series House of the Dragon, which is currently set to carry the mantle). Asked if she wanted to be part of more Game of Thrones, Turner told Variety:
I would give anything to go back to what we had, but it wouldn’t be the same. It would be different, different people running it. I don’t want to be a part of it. Unless they give me the big bucks, I’m not doing it!
There you have it. Sophie Turner will have to see a lot of dollar signs before she does more Game of Thrones. Her main reason for not wanting to continue involves not wanting to work with a different group of people than those she called family for eight seasons. Since there aren't very many people sticking around to jump from one Thrones project to the next, it would create a stark lack of familiarity of Turner.
Former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have a huge development deal with Netflix, so a return to the universe that made them household names seems very unlikely at this point. The good news is that Sophie Turner’s interest is not due to any ill-will towards the popular series or its creative team. She acknowledges a desire to recapture what the show initially had, presumably before the fanbase had turned.
At this point, HBO’s Game of Thrones strategy entails looking to the past instead of the future, as both the shelved pilot and the upcoming House of the Dragon project are prequel concepts. Despite tremendous interest in a spinoff surrounding Sansa Stark’s sister, Arya, HBO subsequently explained why such a show would not happen.
Thankfully for her, Sophie Turner has a lot to keep her post-Game of Thrones career busy. Turner starred in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix, reprising her role as Jean Grey, though the film's lack of overall success made for a franchise low-point. On the television front, however, she has signed on to co-star with 6 Underground’s Corey Hawkins for a new Quibi series entitled Survive.
With such promising avenues elsewhere, a lot would have to happen for Sophie Turner to return for more Game of Thrones. HBO would have to sign off on a massive payday for the Emmy-nominated star, and she would have to be comfortable working with the new creative team. Not to mention the role would need to be just right, without being overtly recognizable and without stepping on her years as Sansa Stark.
I, for one, would be curious to see a Sansa Stark spinoff series. Sansa became one of the most interesting characters on the series and the way her storyline ended, only fueled her spinoff potential. Sophie Turner has weighed in on what she thinks Sansa has been up to after the finale, too.
I would be curious to see if a spinoff ended up bringing that vision or another to life. For now, it does not seem likely that fans will find out, but stranger things have happened. Game of Thrones is currently streaming in its entirety on HBO Go and HBO NOW, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray. To somehow make it between now and when the Game of Thrones spinoff eventually arrives, check out this winter’s premieres.
