Game of Thrones spent eight seasons giving us Emmy-winning performances, but Peter Dinklage just handed the crown to someone most people wouldn’t have predicted.
Dinklage and Kit Harington reunited for the first time since Game of Thrones ended in 2019 for a new Variety interview, sitting down to reflect on the show, life after Westeros, and the cast they spent nearly a decade working alongside. During that conversation, Dinklage said something that’s going to stick with fans for a while. When the subject of his co-stars came up, he didn’t name Emilia Clarke. He didn’t name Harington. He named Sophie Turner.
Peter Dinklage on Why Sophie Turner Stood Above the Rest
“She was I think the greatest actor on this f*cking show,” Dinklage said. “She was always so prepared. And that was such a difficult part.”
Coming from the man who won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister, that isn’t a throwaway compliment. Dinklage earned Emmy nominations every single season of Game of Thrones, winning multiple times, making him the most decorated individual performer the show has ever produced. For him to point to someone else as the greatest says everything.
Turner was just 13 years old when she was cast as Sansa Stark, stepping into a role that would demand her to portray years of abuse, manipulation, trauma, and eventual transformation into one of the most powerful figures in Westeros. She did it while essentially growing up on camera, in front of one of the largest TV audiences in the world.
By the final season, Turner was drawing genuine critical attention, with analysts noting how brilliantly she conveyed Sansa’s evolution, not just through dialogue but through her posture, mannerisms, and the subtle chill she brought to scenes opposite Dinklage himself. That performance earned her her first Emmy nomination in 2019, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
What Dinklage’s comment captures is something fans who watched closely always knew: Sansa Stark was an extraordinarily hard role to pull off. She spent seasons being dismissed by viewers as passive or weak, while Turner quietly did some of the most demanding emotional work on the show. The arc from frightened child to Queen of the North required a different kind of performance than swinging a sword or breathing fire, and Turner landed it.
Turner has continued building her career since the show ended, most recently reuniting with Harington in the 2026 gothic horror film The Dreadful. Dinklage’s words are a timely reminder that her Game of Thrones work deserves to be reassessed, not just remembered.
You May Also Like:
Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest Set to Make Debut at Warner Bros.’s CinemaCon Event