Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has revealed that she struggled with self-hatred after it became “impossible to turn a blind eye” to negative comments on social media.
The 22-year-old, who plays Arya Stark in the HBO fantasy drama, opened up about her experiences with self-doubt and negativity in an appearance on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast.
Williams admitted that she can “feel [her]self going down a rabbit hole” when she reads unpleasant comments from trolls, telling Cotton that sometimes she is left “almost craving something negative so [she] can sit in a hole of sadness”.
The actress said that she is now “really trying to break free” from the negative thoughts that can sometimes “consume” her, and told Cotton that she went through a stage where she would tell herself that she hated herself “every day”.
“I went through a huge period of my life where I’d tell myself every day that I hated myself,” she explained.
“It got to a point where I’d be in a conversation with my friends and my mind would be running and running, and I’d be thinking about all the stupid things I’ve said in my life and it would just race and race.
“We’d be talking about I’d be like ‘I hate myself.’”
Williams said that she has since learned to ask herself “Why do you make yourself feel this way?” and to accept that “everyone is a little bit sad”.
“It was really eye opening to me to understand that,” she said. “I’m still definitely really struggling to let sadness wash over me without it consuming me.
“There was a period of time that I was really sad and then I sort of came out of that. It’s now really terrifying that you’re ever gonna slip back into it, and I think that’s something that I’m really working on.”
Earlier this year, the star revealed that she has decided to take a break from acting after appearing on Game of Thrones for eight seasons, dying her hair pink in a bid to stop any offers.
“I guess, subconsciously, I dyed it because I didn’t want to work,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s a pretty good way of stopping that. And it just feels so good, so me.
“I’ve battled my whole adolescence with trying to put a stamp on my appearance, but also be a blank canvas as an actor.”
