Maisie Williams Breaks Silence on 'Traumatic' Childhood: 'I Was Indoctrinated in a Way'
"Game of Thrones" star Maisie Williams opens up about how her troubling past affects her mental health up to this day.
Maisie Williams made her acting debut in 2011 in the HBO historical fantasy drama series, "Game of Thrones", which is based on George R. R. Martin's whimsical book, "A Song of Ice and Fire".
The actress recently guested on "The Diary of a CEO", wherein the star got emotional as she recalls troubling details of her childhood. According to Williams, she had quite a "traumatic" relationship with her father at the time.
"I don't really want to go into it too much because it affects my siblings and my whole family." Maisie Williams explained during the interview. "Ever since I can remember, I've really struggled sleeping. And I think a lot of the traumatic things that were happening, I didn't realize that they were wrong."
'Indoctrinated' As a Child
While Williams did not go into the specifics of what happened during her childhood, the "Cyberbully" actress expressed that she felt "indoctrinated" at the time, as she did not initially realize that the relationship within her family was not normal.
"I was indoctrinated in a way. I think that's why I'm obsessed with cults. I get it. I get it. I was in a child cult against my mother... So I really was fighting it in the beginning. My whole world flipped on its head. Even though all these things that I'd was feeling, I thought 'oh my God I'm so glad I don't have to see my Dad anymore.' It still was like against everything that I had ever known to be true,"
How It Affected Her Mentally
Now as a 25-year-old adult, Williams expressed that she had struggled with her identity and mental health following the childhood trauma. For as long as she can remember, the star has had trouble sleeping, possibly from a lack of peace of mind.
"Ever since I can remember, I've really struggled sleeping and I think a lot the traumatic things that were happening I didn't realize that they were wrong," Williams said. "But I knew that I would look around at other kids and be like, 'Why don't they seem to understand this, like, pain or dread or fear? ... Where does the joy, like, when does that come for me?'"
Currently, Maisie Williams is set to star in the television series, "The New Look". The 25-year-old actress received numerous accolades in her career, including the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Television Series in 2015.
