Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner says she landed a role over a “better actress” thanks to her social media following
The changing world of stardom
Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner has opened the door on a new and little-known aspect of modern-day acting, revealing in an interview that she has occasionally been selected for roles because of her powerful social media following – even if, in her mind, someone else was better for the part.
“A lot of what I have achieved is about timing and luck, but it is also, and I hate to say it, about a big social-media following,” Turner said in the latest issue of Porter magazine (via Telegraph).
The actress, who has a pretty staggering 1.35 million followers on Twitter, 5.4 million followers on Instagram and over 2 million followers on Facebook went on to reveal that this has occasionally given her the edge in auditions, even when she felt other actors were stronger contenders.
“I auditioned for a project and it was between me and another girl who is a far better actress than I am, far better, but I had the followers, so I got the job,” Turner said. “It’s not right, but it is part of the movie industry now.”
It’s a little unclear what job Turner’s referring to – unreleased films she has in the works include Berlin, I Love You, Huntsville, Time Freak and the X-Men: Apocalypse sequel in which she reprises the role of Jean Grey, so it could be one of those or an earlier role – but whichever project it was, it’s an interesting insight into a world of casting that becomes more and more dependent on loyal Twitter followings.
Tomorrow’s stars – get posting today.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV at 2am, repeated at 9pm
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
