Sophie Turner and other cast members spotted in Belfast as season 8 filming gets underway

Filming on Game of Thrones season 8 began this past Monday, October 23 (a few days after we originally heard it was going to start, possibly due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Ophelia). So far, we haven’t gotten a glimpse of anything on set, which could mean that HBO’s heightened security measures are paying off. Good job, guys.

Nonetheless, we’ve seen a steady stream of cast members flow into Belfast, the nerve center of the production, over the past several days — Liam Cunningham (Davos), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) are all present and accounted for.

Now, another heavy-hitter has been spotted in the area: Sophie Turner, the Lady of Winterfell herself, snapped a pic with a fan the day before yesterday, meaning she was in town for the kick-off:

And hilariously, Turner’s new fiancée Joe Jonas reportedly took the picture after being asked by a fan who didn’t know who he was. Being a Game of Thrones star trumps all else.

According to other reports from fans, some of the cast members are on a network-mandated selfie lockdown, but that can only be so effective; how can they turn down all these earnest fans all the time?

Besides Turner, there was another Kit Harington sighting…

…as well as reports of Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Ben Crompton (Dolorous Edd), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister). Basically the gang’s all here — now that there’s only one unit shooting the season, we can expect more of them to be in close proximity more of the time.

But I am curious to see if HBO’s more stringent security tactics result in a less leaky production than last year’s, which was leaking all over the place. On the one hand, it’s always fun to sort through the latest intel, but on the other hand, who wants to be spoiled for the final season?

Next: Game of Thrones theory corner: Davos, not Melisandre, raised Jon Snow from the dead

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