Sophie Turner rants at ‘super weird’ fans
SOPHIE Turner has taken to Twitter to slap down the ‘super weird’ people who wait outside hotels to catch a glimpse of child stars and then give them abuse if they can’t stop to chat.
The 21-year-old actress — who herself started acting in Game Of Thrones at the tender age of 15 — weighed in on the subject after one of the young stars of Stranger Things — Finn Wolfhard, who is only 14 — was slammed for reportedly not stopping to speak to fans.
Sophie reminded her followers that he and his fellow child stars are ‘kids first’ and need ‘space… to grow without feeling like they owe… Anyone anything for living their childhood dreams.’
In a deluge of tweets, Sophie wrote: ‘Damn … seeing fully grown adults wait outside the Stranger Things’ kids’ hotels etc, and then abuse them when they don’t stop for them… Is super weird A. What adult in their right mind waits for a CHILD outside their hotel and B is then is offended when the CHILD doesn’t stop.
‘It doesn’t matter if they are an actor … they are kids first. Give them the space they need in order to grow without feeling like they owe … Anyone anything for living their childhood dreams.’
She added: ‘Oh and ps. Imagine.. you, a parent, walking with your 13 year old son/daughter and seeing a fully grown adult pointing their camera phone … at your kid.
‘You would do anything you could to delete that persons photograph, and remove your child from that situation as soon as … you could.’
And Sophie made it clear she does not agree with people who think being hounded by fans ‘comes with the job’.
‘It doesn’t matter if that child happens to be an actor and consented to a professional film crew capturing their moves when… in character… That does NOT mean that this child consented to being followed around with a camera in their face,’ she wrote.
‘And how dare you shun and demean that child when they don’t pose for an adult strangers photograph or walk over and talk to them when they … take that NOT CONSENTED FOR photo.
‘Doesn’t that go against everything we teach our children anyway? Pshhhh. Some people man.’
It is not clear if Sophie witnessed Finn’s critical mauling or how much her anger stems from personal experience, but the issue certainly struck a chord for another former Stranger Things star.
Shannon Purser, who played the ill-fated Barb in the first season of Stranger Things, wrote: ‘Okay, no. No actor is under any obligation to stop for anyone. Finn is an incredibly kind human. But he’s human and he needs breaks too.
‘I experience this on a significantly smaller scale, obviously, but I’ve had people waiting for me in hotel lobbies, at my airport gate, etc. And I’m an adult. I can’t imagine being inundated with all this attention at his age. It’s intimidating.
‘So, from one big sister to the world, don’t you DARE make young actors feel guilty or indebted to you because they couldn’t say hi.’
She added: ‘They give you their art. They love their fans. Don’t take advantage of that. And if you can’t handle them needing space, stay away.’
The cast of Stranger Things includes Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp, both 13, 15-year-old Gaten Matarazzo, and 16-year-old Caleb McLaughlin.
Author: Anna Thomson
