Sophie Turner’s New Role as a Jewel Thief Has Given Her ‘Fearlessness’
Sophie Turner spoke to ITV News’ Rishi Davda about what it was like playing notorious jewel thief Joan Hannington in ITV’s new drama, ‘Joan’. Report by Bangurak. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00I haven't bought a piece of jewellery since. I've been nicking it all.
00:04I don't know if they're good though.
00:06I think they are.
00:07My excuse is that Joan isn't an actor, so I'm allowed some wiggle room there.
00:12How aware were you of Joan Hannington before this project? I don't imagine massively so.
00:17No, I wasn't aware of Joan at all, to be honest, before this project.
00:21But as soon as I got the role, I made myself very much aware.
00:27I read her book probably about nine or ten times,
00:31and I did as much research as I could possibly find on her.
00:35But she's an elusive figure, you know? She is quite elusive.
00:39So I eventually got to meet her and actually ask her the questions that I wanted to ask,
00:45because not much is out there for the world to see.
00:48I saw one of those photos of you meeting her.
00:51Yeah.
00:52What was that experience like?
00:53Was she what you expected, having only seen her in paper form before?
00:56No, no.
00:57I mean, you know, you get a little sense of who she is from her book,
01:02because it's in her own words.
01:05She has a very kind of really loud personality, and you can read it off the page.
01:12But when you meet her, it's like a whole other thing.
01:15I mean, she is so vivacious and vibrant, and she owns a room when she walks into it.
01:23And I couldn't quite get that sense off the page,
01:26but when I met her, it was abundantly clear just what a big personality she was.
01:32How is it, I mean, in the first episode, you're really kind of drawn into her relationship with her daughter, Kelly.
01:38As a mother yourself, are you able to draw parallels between the two,
01:42or do you like to keep them separate?
01:44Oh, I can draw parallels, absolutely.
01:46I mean, of course, it's a very different scenario that Jo's in to my scenario,
01:51but she, I mean, it all boils down to this mother who is ferociously trying to defend and protect her daughter
02:00and raise her the right way, and I think that's, you know, when I got this role,
02:05and when I was auditioning for it, I was, first time I auditioned, I was heavily pregnant with my second daughter.
02:11When I did the second audition, I'd just given birth,
02:13and so I had that maternal, animalistic ferocity in me,
02:19and it just felt like Joan and I were on very much the same page,
02:25and those scenes were so much more real to me than, you know, had I done them before I'd had my kids.
02:32Joan really informs the way I am now.
02:35I think I take something from each of my characters,
02:38and Joan gave me this kind of fearlessness that I don't think I really had before,
02:44and she very much kind of inspired me to stand up for what's right and do the right thing
02:50and have no shame or qualms about it.
02:53She just does what she wants, what she knows is right.
02:57She does things a little unorthodox, you know, but she will do anything for her child,
03:03and I am right there with her.
03:06I think the sign of a good actor is one who can do a different accent in every series or film,
03:11and you do multiple accents in the same series.
03:13I don't know if they're good, though.
03:15I think they are.
03:16My excuse is that Joan isn't an actor, so I'm allowed some wiggle room there.
03:21But that was fun. That was very fun.
03:24What was the most challenging one?
03:25I think it was American, but 80s American, you know?
03:29I'd done American accents before. Again, I don't know if they've been any good,
03:33but trying to make it specifically 80s and kind of inspired by old 80s shows like Dallas and things like that,
03:42that was fun to craft but hard to execute.
03:46What are people in for when they watch this series?
03:49Oh, people are in for everything. There's everything in this series.
03:52There's a beautiful love story, a tumultuous love story as well.
03:58At the crux of it, there's a mother and her child,
04:02and so it's very, very kind of harrowing at times.
04:07There's crime, there's intrigue, there's suspicion, and there's glamour.
04:14Every single element that you think you can put into a show, they put it into this,
04:19and it doesn't feel overwhelming or anything like that.
04:22It's seamless, but there's something for everyone.
04:25Has this changed the way you're going to jewellery shop in future?
04:28Are you just going to be there and be like, I'm not going to take it, but if I wanted to, I could?
04:32Yeah, no, I haven't bought a piece of jewellery since. I've been nicking it all.