Sophie Turner began to "distrust" the 'Game of Thrones' producers when they first killed off a major character.

Sophie Turner

Sophie Turner

The 23-year-old actress stars as Sansa Stark in the HBO fantasy drama, and has said she began to realise her role wasn't safe from being killed off when the programme saw her on-screen father Ned Stark - played by Sean Bean - get beheaded in the first season.

Sophie said: "[That was] the most shocking scene that I didn't see coming. From then on, I started to distrust the show as to, like, whether they'd kill my favourite character or not."

The popular show is set to come to an end this month when it airs its eighth and final season, and Sophie - who was a teenager when she accepted the role as Sansa - says it will be "really hard" to let it go.

In a new behind-the-scenes video posted to the 'Game of Thrones' YouTube channel, she added: "I've been thinking about it for a few years. This has been, not only a family to me, but I've grown up with these people. I've changed so much as a person because of these people. We're all a part of each other now, so it's going to be really hard."

Sophie's comments echo those made by her fellow co-stars, as Emilia Clarke - who plays Daenerys Targaryen - recently said she's going to find it tricky to let go of the beloved Mother of Dragons because the role is "like another limb" to her.

She said: I mean, as an actor, as a schmaltzy actor, I believe that every character that you play, they kind of stay in you a little bit, you keep them with you. But yeah, Khaleesi it's like another limb. She's just so much a part of who I am."