When Sophie Turner Revealed Instagram Followers Helped Her Land A Role: “I Had More Followers”
Sophie Turner disclosed she secured a role over a better actress due to her social media following, highlighting Hollywood's past social media-driven casting trends.
Sophie Turner Revealed Role Assistance Through Instagram Followers ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
Advertisement
Social media might be Hollywood’s secret weapon. According to Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, landing roles in the cutthroat acting world sometimes boils down to numbers—follower numbers, to be exact. In a candid chat with Porter magazine, Turner admitted she snagged a role not because she was the better actress but because she had the bigger audience online.
“I auditioned for a project, and it was between me and another girl who is a far better actress than I am,” Turner confessed. “But I had the followers, so I got the job. It’s not right, but it is part of the movie industry now.”
Advertising
Advertising
This revelation is a stark reminder of how social media has reshaped Hollywood. Producers seem to view Instagram and Twitter as the new box office—a cheat sheet for bankability. With 5.4 million Instagram followers and 1.35 million on Twitter, Turner’s online presence added to her star power.
Turner, who first graced our screens as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones at just 14, reflected on how her growing fame transformed her social media habits. “I was a 15-year-old girl writing rash political stuff,” she recalled. “My team would tell me to take it down. Now, I’m learning to keep my mouth shut.” Fame, she said, snuck up on her gradually, but her early Instagram posts still felt like a diary—raw and unfiltered.
Advertisement
Her honesty about social media’s role in casting sheds light on a growing trend in Hollywood. Actors with massive followings are seen as safer bets. And while Turner’s modesty about her talent is endearing, her portrayal of Sansa’s evolution from naive princess to power-hungry queen earned widespread acclaim.
Advertisement
However, only some people in the industry are thrilled with this shift. Acting legends like Emma Thompson and Michael Caine have openly criticized the increasing pressure on actors to sell themselves online. Thompson once told The Telegraph, “Actors are becoming attached in a sort of business way to their social media profiles, and I think that’s a disaster.”
For Turner, though, her social media presence has only fueled her growing career. In addition to Game of Thrones, she headlined major projects like X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Time Freak. Yet, she acknowledges the darker side of the fame-game balance. “A lot of what I have achieved is about timing and luck,” she admitted. “But also, I hate to say it, about a big social media following.”
Advertisement
Love it or hate it, Hollywood’s obsession with follower counts isn’t fading anytime soon. For Turner, it’s just another twist in her journey from Winterfell to the big screen—and she’s playing the game like a pro.
