Look, there she is, with her little one!
says Sophie Turner, pointing toward Effie, the proud mama with her yet-to-be named two week old.
If you’ve got the option to believe it, I only packed one suitcase.
STRAIGHT TALK"I’m not very good at processing my emotions. I lock them away, and then they’ll bubble up in years to come.”Fashion Editor: Camilla Nickerson
She reads aloud in her best thespian voice: Effie is our most playful and cheeky female.
She was born in 1993 at Copenhagen Zoo, and is well-known in the Zoo for her huge appetite.
Do you see how shes dangling her baby by one arm?
CLOSE TO MEVictoria Beckham wool jacket and trousers.
Thats actually not the best way to handle their newborns, says the zookeeper.
Theyre supposed to be wrapped around the body.
A crowd has begun to gather.
OPEN BOOKStella McCartney responsible wool tuxedo jacket and trousers.
asks a voice in a mock-accusatory tone.
Turner looks at me, eyebrows raised.Are we mom-shaming animals now?
I just kept having to say to myself, None of this is true.
STREET SCENEProenza Schouler organza jacket, tulle jersey top, technical mesh trousers, and leather sandals.
You are a good mum and youve never been a partier.
Much like everyone else, she has claimed she got wind of it all via the media.
Then the wayward mother stories began.
GOOD HANG“I’m always drawn to the characters that have gone through so much in their lives that come out of it so strong, resilient.”
Ruth Kenley-Letts,Joans executive producer, saw the fallout firsthand.
The paparazzi were relentless.
I just couldnt believe the lies that I read, that she was somehow out partying.
LIFT OFFAnother Tomorrow responsible wool jacket and flared trousers.
And I knew they were lies, because I was with her.
Id been with her for five months straight.
It was in this emotionally heightened state that Turner would film the most challenging scenes in the series.
MEDIA GLARE“Those were the worst few days of my life,” Turner says of the tabloid attention she received last fall, when news emerged of her marriage ending.
Im not very good at processing my emotions.
Playing Joan gave her nowhere to hide.
With this role I was actually able to process those feelings.
SUITS HERWales Bonner tuxedo jacket and trousers.
I just feel very lucky to be alive in a time when people are open-minded, she says.
Thank fuck for Gen Z.
In January, the lawsuit was dismissed, as the pair had reached a custody agreement.)
NOTHING TO HIDELouis Vuitton top and trousers.
There were some days that I didnt know if I was going to make it.
I would call my lawyer saying, I cant do this.
I was just never strong enough to stand up for myself.
FORMAL DRESSLouis Vuitton satin jacket with scarf detail and leather slingbacks. Turnbull & Asser wool trousers.
Once anyone says to me, Do it for your kids, Im doing it.
I wouldnt do it for myself, but Ill find the strength for them.
At the age of 24, Turner was among the first of her peers to become a mother.
She recalls finding out she was pregnant while on a retreat in Bali.
Maybe because I was so young, I sat on it for a week, she remembers.
Thankfully, there were therapists there to help me talk things through.
I told my husband when I got back.
I remember throwing the pregnancy test at him, saying, What do you think we should do?
Do you think we should have it?
When youre in your early 20s, life is so frivolous.
I just knew I had to have her.
It afforded Turner a 10-month period of mother-daughter bonding time.
Everything changes so quickly.
One week theyre breastfeeding, and the next theyre sitting there eating avocado, she says.
Delphine, who was born two years later, was very much planned.
Because my ex and I travel so much, I wanted Willa to have a sibling, she explains.
Theyre so much fun, total girly girls, and absolute rays of sunshine in my life.
I remember after I had my baby, my therapist asked me how I felt.
I mean, it sounds so simple, but I never thought that way before, she says.
Being a young girl, especially one growing up in the spotlight, you really judge yourself.
Still, negative thoughts are tougher to tune out in moments of extreme stress.
I know when Im in a bad headspace that the eating thing will always flare up, she explains.
Its all exposure therapy.
I think life is exposure therapy.
Not since I moved back to the UK, she says.
Which is great and also surprising, because I anticipated that Id need tonow perhaps more than ever.
Im curious to know what might have made the difference.
Theres something about a community and a support system that Ive never realized is so important up until now.
Now that Im back home, Im actually the happiest Ive been in a really long time.
Her first memories involve happily running around her grandparents garden in her nappies.
Her mother, Sally, a schoolteacher, enrolled her at age three in acting classes.
And then I just become such a show-off, says Turner, chuckling.
Typical performing arts kid, always putting on plays for her parents.
Plus my [older] brothers kept me humble.
Joe had just DMd me on Instagram.
They eloped to Las Vegas in 2019 after attending the Billboard Music Awards.
A second ceremony was held in Provence that summer for friends and family.
It was really surreal, like a fever dream, says Turner.
She found her new life in LA to be quite isolating.
Although she was fully welcomed into her husbands big celebrity family, a sense of unease lingered.
There was a lot of attention on the three brothers, and the wives, she says.
It was kind of this plus-one feeling.
Those feelings of alienation were only exacerbated when she and Jonas moved their young family to Miami in 2021.
For the actor, it was nothing short of culture shock.
Ive always said that my girlfriends are the loves of my life, she says.
I felt so held and so protected.
One of Turners oldest and dearest friends, Eleanor Johnson, was floored by her friends emotional fortitude.
I dont think Sophie even realizes the inner strength or power she has, she says.
Around the same time, Turner was forging a new friendship.
Swift immediately offered up her place for free.
She really has a heart of gold.
I meet Turner a couple of weeks later for tea at Cafe Antonia in Pariss Le Bristol hotel.
Surrounded by frescoed walls and crystal chandeliers, were a long way from the picnic tables at the zoo.
In a couple of hours, shell begin getting red-carpet ready for the Louis Vuitton show.
That said, shes not entirely alone in Paris.
I am having fun dating.
Its very fun, admits Turner.
I mean, its strange when you get married so young.
Its like you never really learn how to date.
So its all very new to me.
Still, shes got a good sense of what she now needs.
The number one most important thing is communication, she says.
Ive started doing this thing with friends called Safe Space Saturdays.
We can tell each other anything thats on our minds and sort it out with really healthy communication.
More than anything, shes hoping to build a functioning co-parenting relationship with Jonas.
Im unhappy with the way everything played out, especially when it comes to my children.
Theyre the victims in all of this.
But I think were doing the best we can, she says.
Im confident that we can figure it out.
Joe is a great father to our children and thats all that I can ask for.
Despite the hubbub, Turner is calm and in an exceptionally good mood.
I couldnt believe it had come to me at this time.
Theres no way I cant not do it.
Soon she will take her seat on the front row with the likes of Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett.
The truth is Turner doesnt need me, or anyone else, to prop her up.
Shes doing just fine, all by herself.
Cover look: Viscose/cotton tuxedo jacket and trousers, Wales Bonner.
Hair: Jimmy Paul.
Make-up: Hannah Murray.
Nails: Adam Slee.
Set design: Gideon Ponte.
Production: Holmes Production.
Digital artwork: Magnus Bergqvist.
With thanks to Castle Gibson
