Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner says she was cast as Jean Grey in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ thanks to Dark Sansa

Going off that, there’s a bit of a parallel between Jean and Sansa Stark, the latter of whom developed her own dark streak in Season 4 of Game of Thrones (which birthed a million Dark Sansa gifs and memes). According to Turner, those similarities may have very well led to her casting in X-Men. “I think maybe one of the reasons that they chose me for [Jean] is because they saw the dark side of Sansa,” she said. “Maybe they’re thinking, ‘Oh, Phoenix, Jean Grey.’ I definitely see a lot of parallels in there.”

Turner continued, “[Jean] struggles with her power… and not being accepted in the human world. I think in terms of [Game of Thrones], that’s kind of the way Sansa felt in that she really wanted to be a normal princess/queen and live a normal life — and she doesn’t, because of all this havoc happens. I think Jean, in a way, feels that.”