Sophie Turner has arranged to meet me at a restaurant near where she’s staying in west London. It’s a cold, blustery afternoon, so I’m surprised to find her at a pavement table, drawing furtive glances from the passers-by. Dressed down in what she terms her “frazzled Englishwoman” look, she’s doing her best to appear anonymous – but her jeans are Khaite, the handbag she has tossed on the ground is designer, and nothing can disguise that willowy frame, dramatic bone structure and shining blonde hair.

Turner exudes star quality, and her recent screen appearances have amply demonstrated how her talent has matured since she was cast, as a 13-year-old schoolgirl, to play Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones. (Not that she’s necessarily aware of this – endearingly for such a seasoned A-lister, Turner is still far too self-conscious to watch herself on screen: “It’s way too embarrassing!”) She is impressive in her starring role as the title character in ITV’s six-part series Joan, based on the life story of the infamous English jewel thief Joan Hannington. Effortlessly switching accents, wigs and personas to play Hannington’s numerous alter-egos, Turner never lets the viewer lose sight of the character’s humanity, and the fierce maternal love that drives her to a life of crime. It is for this tour de force that we have decided to honour her with a Woman of the Year award for performance.

Turner acknowledges that the role is a departure. “I’d never led a TV show before, and I feel as if it’s far more challenging than a big movie like X-Men,” she says. “There are so many people behind that, so many opinions. They make all the decisions, and you just kind of say, “Yes, OK, whatever needs to be done.” Whereas with Joan, I had so much say in it, and it was so collaborative… It feels like I’m releasing something that’s very near and dear to my heart.”

The good news for Turner fans is that there are plenty more such interesting productions in the works. Despite her fresh-faced appearance today, she confesses to being exhausted from a succession of night shoots. “I got to bed at about 4am this morning. I don’t really know how I’m standing right now.” This arduous filming schedule comes courtesy of an upcoming Amazon series, Haven, about the heist of a pension-fund-management company. “Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it?” she says, laughing. “But it actually is amazing. Every episode is a cliffhanger.”

Silk corset top, matching trousers, leather belt, matching boots, all Louis Vuitton. White gold and diamond bracelet, from a selection; matching ring, both Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery

Then, she’s starting work on a new project with Kit Harington (who played her half-brother Jon Snow in Game of Thrones), which she describes as “kind of a horror film” set during the Wars of the Roses. And early next year sees the release of the psychological thriller Trust, in which Turner plays an actress who flees a high-profile internet scandal. “That one really mirrored my life from this past year, and it was a very cathartic experience for me,” she says, darkly. “It was a chance to let out some serious anger, which was fun. So that felt right for me to do.”

She’s referring to the fallout from the ending of her four-year marriage to Joe Jonas, one-third of the pop-rock group the Jonas Brothers. Theirs was a match made in Instagram heaven – indeed, that’s how they first met, when Jonas sent her a DM. The couple tied the knot in 2019, just after Game of Thrones had come to its dramatic climax, in a Las Vegas ceremony conducted by an Elvis impersonator and live-streamed on Instagram (of course) by the DJ Diplo. Priyanka Chopra, who is married to Nick Jonas, was a bridesmaid. Turner and Jonas’ daughter Willa was born in 2020, followed by Delphine two years later.

So, what went wrong? Turner sighs. “I’m going through a legal process right now where I can’t really say much, but it was incredibly sad. We had a beautiful relationship, and it was hard.” As upsetting as the split clearly is for her, she is delighted to have returned to native shores. “I’m so happy to be back. It felt as if my life was on pause until I returned to England,” she admits. “I just never really feel like myself when I’m not in London, with my friends and family. I was away for so long – six years – and it was when my friends were getting engaged, and when I got pregnant. I went for dinner with someone the other day, and she said, ‘I never got to touch your belly.’ We didn’t have those key experiences with each other.”

Living with Jonas, first in LA and subsequently in Miami, she suffered from homesickness – “every city we ended up in, the first thing I’d do was find a British shop and stock up on a month’s worth of chocolate” – but it was the politics that she found hardest to cope with. “The gun violence, Roe v Wade being overturned… Everything just kind of piled on. After the Uvalde [school] shooting, I knew it was time to get the fuck out of there.”

Turner now lives in west London, but is staying with a friend while her children are with their father, because she hates to be at home alone without them: “It’s absolute agony.” Becoming a mother has, she says, “changed me so much in every way. Before I had kids, I was very depressed and anxious, and I would isolate [myself] a lot. Now, I think I live my life for them. I want them to see me having a social life and enjoying work and thriving in my career and relationships. I want them to see a hard-working mum. I’ll come back and say, ‘This is why Mummy was away – it’s because she’s doing this for you, so Father Christmas can come with a big bundle of presents.’”

Silk jacket, matching skirt, brass brooch, all Louis Vuitton. Gold and diamond bracelet, matching ring, both Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery

Have her daughters seen anything she’s been in? “God, no! Well, I did one episode of a little cartoony kids show and showed it to them, and they didn’t want to know. It’s good, because I don’t want them to be like, ‘Wow, Mum’s on TV!’ I just tell them I play dress-up for a living.”

And in more ways than one; she’s also an ambassador for Louis Vuitton, alongside Zendaya and Alicia Vikander. “It’s a very authentic relationship, because I love and respect Nicolas [Ghesquière] so much and we have a really good laugh together… My everyday look is anything that’s comfortable – I don’t like things that are patterned or bold. But Nicolas brings that out in me when I’m on the red carpet. He knows how to make you feel good in beautiful, elaborate designs, but in a way that you’re not overpowered by them.”

Turner grew up in a small village outside Warwick in the East Midlands, where her parents still live. “All we have there is a church and a windmill,” she says. “I was just playing outside with my brothers every day, climbing trees and throwing Pooh sticks off the bridge.”

As a child, she was a natural performer. “I recently went back and watched home videos from when I was one or two… Every occasion, there would be about half an hour of me singing nursery rhymes for the whole family.” By the time she was three, she had been enrolled in both ballet and acting classes.

Turner speaks enthusiastically about Playbox, the Warwick youth theatre she attended, but it was at school where she was picked for Game of Thrones. “My entire year auditioned, pretty much – we all thought it was hilarious,” she says. “I don’t know how it happened, because my audition tape was absolutely horrific. But, somehow, they ended up casting me.”

Left: Cotton and silk dress, from a selection; straw hat, both Louis Vuitton. Gold and diamond ring, Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery. Right: Silk top, straw hat, both Louis Vuitton. Gold and diamond ring, Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery

Turner remembers her parents debating whether she was too young to take the role – her mother cautious, her father keen for her to fulfil her dramatic ambitions. “I think I was lucky to have parents at the two ends of the spectrum,” she says. “I’m so happy I had that opportunity, but at the same time there was a wariness about it.” Of course, nobody could have predicted that Game of Thrones would become the biggest show on television, still less that, as Sansa, Turner would survive the internecine warfare through all eight seasons to triumph finally as Queen in the North. The result was that she was catapulted from her rural backwater onto the global stage.

“At that age, all I knew was I wanted to act. I didn’t even think about my weight or how I looked, it was just, ‘This is fun, I get to play every day.’ I learnt far too young what I’m supposed to look like, and how I’m supposed to behave. I think that’s how child stars end up being so messed up, because they’re not allowed to make mistakes, and therefore they’re not allowed to grow…”

Silk dress, leather boots, both Louis Vuitton. White gold and diamond bracelet, from a selection; matching ring, both Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery

Overwhelmed by physical insecurity, Turner developed bulimia, then anorexia – “what a whopper of an eating disorder that was!” she says, with a wry laugh. “It still affects me. I don’t think it ever leaves you, I think you just try to learn to manage it. If I see a plate of food, I still feel a little bit of dread. But the great thing about being a mother is that I get to teach my kids how to have a healthy relationship with their bodies, which feels like a justice to myself.”

But she remains both grateful and close to the cast and crew: “I went from 13 to 23 on that show – it was my whole childhood. We’re all still on a massive group chat, and we try and meet each other whenever we’re in the same country… they’re family.” She is planning to get the fading dire-wolf tattoo on her arm re-inked. “That will stay forever. I wish it wasn’t so massive, but you make mistakes, don’t you?”

Cotton jumpsuit, silk scarf, leather boots, all Louis Vuitton

I take a quick peek, but can’t spot if she still has her half of the his’n’hers Toy Story tattoos she got with Jonas. Still, there is no doubt that she has moved on, both professionally and personally. Since the end of last year, she has been dating Peregrine Pearson, who is in line to become the 5th Viscount of Cowdray. “We’re very happy,” she says, blushing, when I ask how it’s going. “It came around very quickly. I just needed to go on a date to know how to do it again. That was the first date and the last date, and it’s been great.” What’s he like? “He’s lovely. He’s funny, and he brings out the cheeky side of me, the fun side. He lights me back up.” It will be thrilling for us all to see how brightly Sophie Turner can shine.

Joan is available now on ITVX. The December/January issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, celebrating our Women of the Year, is on newsstands from 6 November.