Sophie Turner Trained for a Year to Become Lara Croft — Expect a Tomb Raider That Stands Out
Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner is stepping into Lara Croft’s boots for Prime Video’s Tomb Raider and says she feels really lucky to take on the iconic role.
Prime Video is making a Tomb Raider series, and yes, we still have no plot basics to chew on. But we do have something new: Sophie Turner says her Lara Croft prep has been serious, and the timing lines up for a full-on stunt-heavy shoot. Also, Amazon just rolled out 10 additional cast names, including a couple of familiar franchise deep cuts.
What Turner says (and when cameras roll)
"I can't say much, but my preparation began in February [2025]. I've been training for a long time now, coming up on a year, and we're going to start shooting [in January 2026]... 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."
Turner told ScreenRant all of that a day after Amazon announced a 10-person casting wave. The headline here: training started in February 2025, and filming is slated for January 2026. Translation: no footage yet, but expect a very physical Lara when they finally get going.
New faces (and who they're playing)
- Bill Paterson (House of the Dragon) as Winston, the ever-faithful Croft family butler.
- Martin Bobb-Semple (Free Rein) as Zip, Lara's go-to tech support.
- Jason Isaacs as Atlas de Mornay, Lara's uncle.
Why Jason Isaacs as Atlas actually matters
If you know the games, Atlas is more of a background presence than a marquee villain. He tries to take control of the Croft estate after Lara's mother disappears, but in the mainline titles he barely shows up: he's only heard in Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) and just mentioned in Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018), mostly via voice recordings and documents. The comics tell a different story. Dark Horse's rebooted Tomb Raider run uses him more, particularly issue #7, which dropped on August 24, 2016.
Bringing Isaacs in as Atlas suggests the show is pulling threads from the comics, not just the games. That tracks with the creative team: Phoebe Waller-Bridge is writing and co-showrunning alongside Chad Hodge (Good Behavior). It's a smart needle to thread if they want Lara's family drama to actually matter on screen.
Bottom line: still no plot breakdown, but Turner's year-long training and that Atlas casting point to something punchy, personal, and not just tombs and trinkets. I'll take it.