Sophie Turner admits that her acting career "stalled" because she had children at an early age

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Sophie said of motherhood: "It's really nice. I'm not worrying about my biological clock and all that sort of stuff.

"It just felt like the right break to focus on me, because I'd been a character for so long. Nesting and being at home was amazing. But the flipside of it, and Covid didn't help, was that this was a big break from the career.

"And I've had try and rebuild, in a way. You don't realise how important momentum is in a career, and I stalled it a bit."

Sophie made her acting debut as a teenager in the role of Sansa Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones and has confessed to wishing she got her big break in a lower profile project.

The Steal actress said: "I learned how to act on that set, and now I'm thinking, 'That's not how to do it.' That's not what I do these days. It's very embarrassing.

"Imagine if you were learning to sing, and all your lessons had been filmed and broadcast. It's just an uncomfortable experience. I think the imposter syndrome remains, but I don't think there's any actor who doesn't have that."

Turner recalled how she was frequently approached to star in historical and fantasy films and TV series once Game of Thrones ended but she was determined to "separate" herself from the show.

She said: "I got so many period dramas about princesses who start off weak and end up learning and developing and growing into strength.

"I had to separate myself from all that. After Game of Thrones finished, I didn't know what was up and what was down. I needed to discover who I was."

Sophie added: "A really important part of being an actor is to live a life so you have experiences to draw on. I remember having to act being in love before I'd ever been in love. I thought, 'OK, I'll guess I'll just do this.' And then suddenly, when I'd been in love for the first time, then I knew the feeling.

"That's part of the job - to sit in the discomfort of feeling so that we can bring it to the table."