Game Of Thrones and Skins star reveals she was sectioned after being dragged into ‘wellness’ cult at height of fame
A GAME Of Thrones star will lift the lid on being sectioned after she was recruited into a wellness cult in a new tell-all memoir.
The Bristol-born actress Hannah Murray, 35, who played Gilly in the HBO series, is set to release her “astonishing” book next year.
Hannah, who also starred in the teen drama Skins between 2007 and 2008, returning again in 2013, details her shock experiences in The Make-Believe.
She was sectioned in 2017 after becoming embroiled in the activities of the group.
Speaking about her book, she said: “The Make-Believe tells a deeply personal story that has lived inside me for many years and which it now feels vital to share.”
Little is known yet about her specific experiences and her time in the hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Publishers Hutchinson Heinemann – the bookseller who scooped the book deal over rivals in a 13-way auction – said: “This is the story of the blurred line between what is real, and what is an illusion; 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.
“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.”
SCREEN STAR
In Game Of Thrones – for which she and her co-stars were nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards – she took on the role of wildling girl Gilly.
The fan favourite actress previously told how she considers co-star Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry in Game of Thrones, as family.
Although she starred alongside the actor in Skims, the pair never shared a scene together in the HBO drama.
Meanwhile, in Skins, she played the role of Cassie Ainsworth who has been described as a “gentle and creative but self-destructive teenager with an eating disorder.”
Hannah was the first person to be cast on the show and appeared in the first two series.
She decided to leave after the end of the second season to allow for a younger cast, saying: “It would be really silly to be in a teenage drama if you’re no longer a teenager.”
Hannah has also been cast in Charlie Says – a film starring Matt Smith as Charles Manson.
She plays Leslie Van Houten, one of the women indoctrinated by the killer who went on to kill for him.
Off-screen, she cut a strikingly different figure to her blonde-haired Skins character as she showed off her natural brunette look with a fan in 2022.
Fans were quick to comment on her unrecognisable appearance as she pulled on a Buffy the Vampire shirt while attending a comic con event.