Game of Thrones actress Hannah Murray has revealed she was sectioned after being ‘lured’ into a wellness cult in her mid-20s.
Hannah, now 35, rose to fame between 2007 and 2009 as one of the leading stars of the Channel 4/E4 teen drama Skins, in which she played Cassie Ainsworth.
She then joined Game of Thrones in 2012, playing wildling girl Gilly. Introduced in season two, she became a prominent member of the cast from season three onwards.
However, Hannah has now revealed that, shortly after filming her scenes for Game of Thrones’ seventh season in 2016 and 2017, she was sectioned.
The revelation appears in an currently unfinished memoir by the actress, titled The Make-Believe, which is scheduled for release either in 2025 or 2026.
Hannah herself commented on the work she has completed for the book so far, saying: ‘The Make-Believe tells a deeply personal story that has lived inside me for many years and which it now feels vital to share.’
The book’s publishers, Hutchinson Heinemann, added: ‘This is the story of the blurred line between what is real, and what is an illusion.
‘[A story of] what we must accept and what we wish to be true; between solid earth beneath your feet and a world where anything is possible if you only commit.’
The publisher then alluded to Hannah’s experiences with the cult: ‘It is about the lure of those that tell us they can save us, and the deceptive structure of organisations that promise us “wellness”.
‘It’s about the acting world, but also about the way all of us act, hiding our vulnerabilities from everyone except the people trained to prey on them.’
The specifics of Hannah’s journey from 2017 onwards aren’t fully known, but the memoir promises to lift the lid on the behind-the-scenes life of one of TV’s most recognisable faces.
She did appear in three episodes of Game of Thrones’ final season, which was filmed through 2018 and early 2019.
Hannah, born in Bristol – where Skins was filmed and mostly set -hasn’t appeared on the big screen since 2018 and has only appeared sporadically on TV since then.
She first became known to viewers as Cassie in Skins, sharing the screen with her eventual Game of Thrones co-star Joe Dempsie, who played Chris in the coming-of-age show.
However, the two were often involved in completely separate storylines in Game of Thrones, with Hannah spending the majority of her time hundreds of miles away from the main cast.
Introduced in season two as one of Craster’s daughter-wives (yep, that’s Game of Thrones), Gilly and Samwell Tarly (John Bradley-West) escape the home of her evil father and eventually return to Castle Black, where Samwell is based.
By the eighth and final season, Gilly and Sam are safe at the Stark homestead of Winterfell, with Gilly announcing to Jon Snow (Kit Harington) that she’s pregnant with Sam’s child.
The couple eventually travel to King’s Landing after Sam is named as maester as several of the characters begin the process of rebuilding the city following its destruction by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).
In Skins, Hannah’s character Cassie was used by the writers to shine a light on sensitive topics, such as eating disorders, low self-esteem in adolescents, and suicidal ideation.
After tragic events at the end of season two, Cassie left Bristol for New York City, where Sid (Mike Bailey) went to find her and rekindle their on-off romance.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on NowTV and Sky Boxsets. Watch Skins on Netflix.
MORE : Groinal arousal in OCD and why the body’s responses don’t always match the brain
MORE : Blind Big Brother star ‘lucky to be alive’ after falling on railway track
MORE : Was original Tina Dingle star Jacqueline Pirie asked by Emmerdale to return?
