Sophie Turner likens 'Game of Thrones' ending to death in family

April 1 (UPI) -- Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner says the series ending feels like a death in the family.

The 23-year-old British actress said in the May issue of Harper's Bazaar U.K. she's "just coming to terms" with the show's impending finale.

"I'm just coming to terms with it right now, it's like a death in the family," she told the magazine. "I'm losing the character I've played so long."

Turner was 15 years old when Game of Thrones premiered in 2011. She finished filming the eighth and final season five months ago and has been taking a break from work since.

"I've been trying to figure out what I like to do for myself. It's been 10 years of playing someone else, and doing what I'm told, and now I'm like 'Hmmm. Maybe I should find some hobbies,'" the star said.

"I'm passionate about a lot of things. I'll sit in my house in New York and paint. And I'm doing ballet again," she shared.

"She's spiraling out of control and she can't understand what's happening to her," Turner said. "She has auditory and visual hallucinations, so we [she and the director Simon Kinberg] started to liken her mental state to schizophrenia. It was a way to ground the character and make her more relatable."

"The biggest thing I took away from this movie is what mental health problems can do to a family and friends, and how people can walk way from you because it's too painful to see," she added. "I have had a lot of people close to me who have struggled with their mental health, including myself, so it's something I'm really passionate about."