Sophie Turner experienced what it was like to hear voices in her head for research for ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’.
The ‘Game of Thrones’ actress reprises her role as psychic Jean Grey in the next outing in the superhero franchise and has revealed part of her research into mental health disorders saw her actually face some of the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Turner told ScreenRant: “As soon as Simon [Kinberg] kind of told me what the movie was about we just started straight away sharing ideas, sharing materials.
“Simon gave me a big, big book on schizophrenia.
“I actually found this thing online, on YouTube.
And it was just kind of repeating, repeating, repeating, what it sounds like being a schizophrenic.
“So I used to walk around town with all these voices in my head. Kind of feel it out. And see what it felt like.”
The 22-year-old star also delved into how sufferers of split personality disorder cope with waking up in the morning and having no recollection of what they did the night before.
She said: “We also explored Multiple Personality Disorder as well.
“And what that feels like to kind of wake up and not know what you did, what happened and that shear panic and how that affects you.”
Turner – who is best know for portraying Sansa Stark in HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ – felt she needed to understand fully how her “complex” alter-ego was feeling to play the part, and says she’s never dedicated so much time to research for an acting job before.
She said: “Jean is just … she’s so, so, layered. She’s so complex in this movie.
“I really don’t think that I’ve done more research for a role than for this one and I loved every minute of it.”
Turner found the forthcoming movie highly “challenging” and emotionally draining, but heaped praise on director Simon Kinberg, who stepped up from being a script writer for the saga to go behind the camera for the first time.
She said previously: “I kept saying to Simon (Kinberg, director), ‘Oh good, that’s nearly done. Now I only have, like, seven huge emotional scenes to go. It was a real challenge.”
She added: “Simon has been the brain behind ‘X-Men’ for years and it’s really exciting to have what feels like one of our own rise up and take hold of the franchise and direct it in the way that he sees it.
“I have to say he’s one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. He’s so passionate and collaborative.”
Bang Showbiz
