Sophie Turner Is Building Her Own Lara Croft by Playing the Games, Reading the Comics, and Skipping the Movies
Sophie Turner is deep in prep mode for Tomb Raider, Prime Video’s upcoming live-action series, and she’s taking a very deliberate path to becoming Lara Croft.
While plenty of actors revisit past screen versions of iconic characters, Turner is heading in a different direction. She’s immersing herself in the source material that started it all while intentionally steering clear of the movies.
The actor recently explained that her approach is all about finding her own version of Lara, one that isn’t shaped by what’s come before on screen. That means hours with a controller in hand and stacks of comics on her desk.
As Turner put it while speaking to SiriusXM: “I'm playing the games, I'm reading the comics. I've got the Colossal Collections, which are 500 pages. I'm kind of doing all of it, but not really focusing on the previous iterations, because I don't want to imitate, I've gotta create my own thing. So, as much as I love those movies, I can't watch them right now.”
The films she’s putting on pause include the early 2000s adaptations led by Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, as well as the 2018 reboot starring Alicia Vikander, simply titled Tomb Raider.
There’s also the Netflix animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, which ran for two seasons with Hayley Atwell voicing the legendary adventurer. Turner’s not dismissing any of those takes. She just doesn’t want them shaping her performance before she’s had the chance to define it herself.
Turner has also been putting in serious physical work to get ready for the action-heavy role. She’s been training for months and says the process has been intense but rewarding.
“I can't say much, but my preparation began in February. I've been training for a long time now, coming up on a year, and we're going to start shooting,” she shared, hinting that cameras could start rolling very soon.
That excitement is clearly building as production gets closer. Turner also spoke about how supported she feels heading into the project, especially with Amazon backing the series.
“I'm really excited, but I feel prepped, and I feel really lucky to have such a great relationship with Amazon, and I'm excited for the world to see what we do with Lara and Tomb Raider. I think it's going to be something special.”
While plot details are still being kept tight, the cast continues to take shape. Sigourney Weaver has been announced as original character Evelyn Wallis, and Amazon has since revealed a wave of additional casting.
House of the Dragon standout Bill Paterson will play Lara’s butler Winston, Free Rein actor Martin Bobb-Semple steps in as tech-savvy ally Zip, and Jason Isaacs joins the series as Lara’s uncle, Atlas de Mornay.
With Turner committing to the games, the comics, and a year-long training grind, it sounds like this new take on Tomb Raider is aiming to honor Lara Croft’s roots while carving out something fresh.