Sansa Stark had one of the more satisfying resolutions in Game of Thrones, taking her place as Queen of the North in the final episode. For a character that endured a lot of hardship in the series, she achieved a surprisingly happy ending. However, Sophie Turner has ruled out reprising the role in any future Game of Thrones media.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actress had this to say:
“No. It’s time for me to say goodbye.She’s ended up in a place that I’m so happy with. I don’t know. It would be different if someone actually came and said, ‘We want to do a Sansa spinoff show,’ but I’m pretty sure I’d say no. It’s been 10 years of watching this character grow, and she’s at her peak right now. I’m sure if she carried on and did a spinoff show, it would just be downhill from there. She’d have to go through some other terrible traumas or something, and I don’t want to do that.”
Turner is currently doing the press rounds for Dark Phoenix, where she plays another strong female character in Jean Grey, albeit one that might not get the same narrative closure as Sansa. The actress has certainly not been afraid to voice her opinion on the HBO fantasy series though, criticizing fan petitions to remake season 8 after its controversial reaction, and revealing just what was going on with the rogue coffee cups in certain scenes.
But circling back to her comments, and it seems unlikely that any Game of Thrones spinoffs will resurrect familiar characters. HBO programming president Casey Bloys dismissed the idea not too long ago, commenting: “right now, a sequel or picking up any of the other characters doesn’t make sense for us.” We’d agree with this assessment, too, as there doesn’t seem to be much mileage left in the story where it ended off, and a fresh start in the same universe would allow a series to stand on its own.
What form that’ll take is currently a bit up in the air, although a prequel seems to be the most likely option. For now though, we’ll just have to keep our ears to the ground for the latest on any Game of Thrones spinoffs, or even the long-awaited next book from George R.R. Martin.
