In the end, she got one, though it came after more hardship and loss than young Sansa or anyone else could have predicted. Sansa had one of the most extreme trajectories in the series, evolving from a callow girl into one of the cagiest operators in the story. It wasn’t easy — she was manipulated by multiple puppetmasters and her wedding night rape in Season 5 inspired a national debate about the show’s use of sexual violence.
But Sansa survived and rose to power — in one of the last scenes of the series finale of “Game of Thrones,” she was crowned queen of the newly independent North.
“It was kind of the perfect ending for her,” Turner said Monday morning.
Turner spoke briefly by phone from Berlin, where she’s promoting her new X-Men movie “Dark Phoenix.” She discussed the end of “Game of Thrones,” the fan backlash and why Sansa’s resiliency owed nothing to her abusers, despite a moment earlier this season that seemed to suggest as much. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Q: How are you feeling now that “Game of Thrones” is officially over?
A: I don’t know. This whole time I felt like I’ve been prepared for it, and now that it’s come to the day and it’s over, it feels horrible. And, I’m doing a press day for my new movie but everyone keeps asking me about how I feel, and I just want to cry.
Q: What did you think about the end?
A: I haven’t actually watched it yet because I was alone when it came out, and I truly can’t be alone to watch it. But I read the script and I acted in it, so I kind of know what happens.
Q: So King Bran ...
A: King Bran the Broken. I suppose it was unexpected but it makes a lot of sense. The best way for us to move into the future is to look at our past and try to not make those mistakes that we did in the past. And he’s the one person who knows everything, so it does make sense. It feels like he would be an incredibly fair ruler.
Q: The final meeting of the Starks was an emotional moment. Was that the last thing you shot?
A: It was actually that scene where we choose Bran to be king. That was five days in Seville, and by the end of it we were just exhausted. And we were wondering when we were going to wrap, because we didn’t know if it was going to be three days or 10 days or however long. So every time they cut, I would just start crying because I thought it was the end, and then I’d have to bottle it up again and shoot another take, and another take and another take.
Q: The fan reaction this season has been much more negative than in previous seasons. Were you surprised by some of the vitriol?
A: Honestly, I’m not surprised. People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so when it doesn’t go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel.
The thing about “Game of Thrones” that’s always been amazing is the fact that there’s always been crazy twists and turns, right from Season 1 with Ned’s beheading. So Daenerys becoming something of the Mad Queen — it shouldn’t be such a negative thing for fans. It’s a shock for sure, but I think it’s just because it hasn’t gone their way.
All of these petitions and things like that — I think it’s disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season. Like 50-something night shoots. So many people worked so, so hard on it, and for people to just rubbish it because it’s not what they want to see is just disrespectful.
Q: How did you feel about the way Sansa’s story ended?
A: I loved it. It’s the only place that she really, truly feels safe. It’s the place that she’s the most capable of ruling. She would be a fair and loving ruler, and it’s what she’s been striving for this whole series: to go back home, to protect her home. And finally she has that.
Q: There was that one scene where Sansa talked about how all the abuse she’s suffered is what made her strong. It almost seemed to be crediting abusers with making you who you were.
A: I obviously think that’s not a message to spread. But I don’t think that was the intention. It was that she was strong in spite of all of the horrific things that she’s gone through, not because of them. She’s had resilience since the very beginning, and despite all of these awful things that happened to her, she’s kept that resilience. Sansa to the core is resilient and brave and strong, and that had nothing to do with her abusers.
Q: As time goes by, what do you think will be your most prominent memory of your time on “Game of Thrones”?
A: Wow, I don’t know. One of the things that I’ll remember the most is just the camaraderie and the family that we all created from being on the show. Every night we would all meet up — crew, cast, everyone — at the bar and have drinks and just chat and laugh, and it was just a family. I’ve never felt such a strong bond with a group of people in my life; I know that they’re going to be my family forever. I had father figures on the show, like the camera man and the grips and the props guys. Brotherly figures — hundreds of them.
We were stuck in the mud and the rain for 10 years together. It’s hard not to bond with those people — I think that’s what I’ll take away the most.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.