The Emmy nominations dropped today and once again Game of Thrones more or less occupies every major category. This year, nominations included the show itself, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams, whose reaction bordered on priceless.
But we want to highlight an acting job that may have fallen slightly by the wayside in favor of flashier performances: Sophie Turner quietly turned in one of the finest, most subtle acting jobs on scripted television this year. This isn’t a snub article; we’re not suggesting that someone be bumped instead of Turner. Instead, we want to give Turner love for an amazing season of acting.
Consider where Sansa Stark was last year. Sexually assaulted by Ramsay Bolton in a scene that didn’t even feature her as the main reactor. Think about that. How thankless is it to be practically edited out of your own rape scene? Since then she’s taken a complete 180, going from helpless victim to serious power player capable of luring an army to Winterfell only to calmly and forcefully reject its leader’s advances.
On a larger scale, Sansa has gone from princess hopeful to survivor of Joffrey to guarded jealousy to guarded trust to surviving another assault to now carrying her brother to victory on the battlefield. All over a series of seasons in which she rarely got her glory moment, was often passed over by the show’s own camera, and never got to ride in on a dragon. That’s serious yeoman’s work, performing the thankless task always in service of the larger story. And now she’s getting her time to shine.
Often, awards nominations run a little behind or reward the maximum visible effort. That’s why costume dramas always clean up at the Academy Awards. It’s not necessarily that they’re the best, just that they’re the most. You see all the work in huge gaudy colors. Someone playing understated and inglorious like Turner can often be passed over for someone like Claire Danes, who runs around saving the world. No shots at Danes, she's doing amazing work too, but you see all of it.
So we’re showing her some love. Shout out to Sophie Turner for one of the best years of TV acting we’ve seen in a long time. We’re sure she’ll be right there applauding her castmates when they take the stage.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT