Sophie Turner Recalls Being Pressured to Lose Weight While Filming 'Game of Thrones'

The actress also defends Sansa's comment about survival this season.

Sophie Turner's Game of Thrones battles weren't always featured on screen.

In the June issue of Marie Claire Australia, the 23-year-old actress reveals that during filming for the hit HBO series she struggled with mental health, an issue that was only exacerbated by being asked to lose weight for the role.

"I have experienced mental illness firsthand and I’ve seen what it can do to the people around [the sufferers] as well," Turner explains. "My metabolism suddenly decided to fall to the depths of the ocean and I started to get spotty and gain weight, and all of this was happening to me on camera."

According to the magazine, "then came pressure from film and television studios to lose weight." As for how she dealt with the pressure, Turner credits one thing: therapy.

"Everyone needs a therapist, especially when people are constantly telling you you’re not good enough and you don’t look good enough," she says. "I think it’s necessary to have someone to talk to, and to help you through that."

During a recent interview with Dr. Phil, Turner expanded on how negative comments about her weight affected her mental health.

"I had no motivation to do anything or go out," she said of how her depression affected her, adding that she had become withdrawn. "Even with my best friends, I wouldn't want to see them... I would cry and cry and cry. Just having to change and put on clothes, I said, 'I can't do this. I can't go outside. I have nothing that I want to do.'"

One person who's helped her is her new husband, Joe Jonas, with whom she recently tied the knot with Joe Jonas in a surprise Las Vegas wedding.

"I love myself now, or more than I used to," she told Dr. Phil. "I'm now with someone that makes me realize, you know, that I do have some redeeming qualities, I suppose, and when someone tells you they love you every day, it makes you realize why that is, and I think it makes you love yourself a bit more."

A source recently told ET that, despite Turner and Jonas' Vegas nuptials the pair still plan on tying the knot in Paris this summer. This shouldn't come as a surprise to many as Jonas' brother, Nick Jonas, recently had multiple wedding ceremonies with his wife, Priyanka Chopra.

"Joe and Sophie are a couple that loves to have fun and live in the moment, and that's exactly what getting hitched in Vegas was," the source said. "The couple does plan to have a more formal wedding with their family and friends, but this ceremony was just fun. Joe and Sophie are planning to get married in Paris later this year."

Watch the video below for more on the newlyweds.

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