“Game of Thrones” Actress Hannah Murray Recalls Being in a Wellness Cult, Experiencing a Psychotic Episode

Desiree AnelloSat, May 23, 2026 at 8:24 PM UTC

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Hannah Murray arrives at the 'Game of Thrones' season finale premiere in 2019
Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic -

Hannah Murray opened up about her experience becoming involved in a wellness cult, which she said ultimately triggered a psychotic episode that landed her in the hospital

“It's easy to go, ‘Well, that would never happen to me,' but we do ourselves a disservice when we start saying that,” the Game of Thrones actress said

Murray recalled having to be pinned down by multiple men before being rushed to the hospital and held for 28 days under the Mental Health Act

Hannah Murray is opening up about her experience being in a wellness cult.

Rather than relying on things like yoga or crystals to help guide her on her wellness journey as a young person in the spotlight, the Game of Thrones actress, 36, revealed to The Guardian that she became involved in an exploitative cult that triggered a psychotic episode so intense that she was placed in a mental health unit.

“There's not enough critical thought about wellness,” Murray told the outlet. “It's easy to go, ‘Well, that would never happen to me,' but we do ourselves a disservice when we start saying that, because you don't know.”

“I was well educated, from a middle-class family; everything should have been fine,” she continued. “I thought, ‘I'm smart. I make good choices.' Well, I made terrible choices. But it's important to understand why people do these things, rather than going, ‘Oh, they must be idiots.' Or, ‘How stupid could you be?' ”

Hannah Murray in 'Game of Thrones' season 7
Credit: Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Without naming the cult, Murray explained that her involvement with the organization began when she met an “energy healer,” whom she referred to as Grace, on the set of Detroit. And since the “violent and dark” subject matter of the 2017 film left her “trembling with adrenaline” and plagued by nightmares, the actress remembered being quick to open up to Grace.

While Grace first offered the Skins actress a $150 session of “healing” to help her learn the tools to help herself, she soon also spoke of activating her “spiritual DNA” using “powerful and ancient tools,” according to Murray. But since Murray had been introduced to Grace by someone on set, she didn't think to second-guess her legitimacy.

Eventually, Murray was led to a series of classes that promised answers to her journey of self-healing — though they often came with a price.

“The pyramid was structured to exploit everyone who tried to climb it,” she wrote in her memoir, The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness, per the outlet. “Except for one person, one man, who sat at the very top.”

Emphasizing that this man, whom she referred to as Steve, was a product of the Harry Potter generation, Murray said that both her experience filming Game of Thrones and growing up in a world full of young adult fiction left her more vulnerable to the storylines she was offered by the cult.

“He exuded power in a way I had never known anyone to exude it. Magical power,” she remembered thinking of Steve. “I knew I was in the presence of a magician.”

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As she became more and more involved in the cult alongside other female teachers and devotees, Murray said she began to notice signs of sexual exploitation.

“My own experience felt highly eroticized, without anything explicitly physical happening,” she told The Guardian. “There was just this charge to the energy in the room. I think there often is in these hierarchical spiritual organisations. I found it interesting that it was a primarily quite female space — the teachers, the healer — and then this man walks in, and he's incredibly confident and magnetic.”

Hannah Murray attends a screening of 'Charlie Says' during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty

When she voiced her concerns that the organization was a “sex cult” to one of the female teachers at the time, the teacher allegedly claimed that Steve was just “really good at breaking down your ego.”

It wasn't until she attended a five-day course held in London that Murray realized her behavior had become erratic to the point that she was speaking at “a million miles a second.” She also began to have hallucinations and delusions that Steve loved her and would marry her.

As her mania grew worse, Murray said, she remembered locking herself in a bathroom while experiencing pain that felt like she was “giving birth” through her skull. On the other side of the door, the teachers gathered to chant, “Be gone, evil spirit in Hannah.”

When someone finally called for help, Murray was pinned to the floor by a group of men and rushed to the hospital, after which she was held for 28 days under the Mental Health Act.

Acknowledging that her experience with the wellness cult may seem ludicrous in hindsight, Murray has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And from the moment the psychiatrist uttered the words, “everything made so much more sense," the actress said.

"I hear so much, 'We need to talk more about mental health,' " she told The Guardian. "What they mean is, like, anxiety and depression. We're all happy to talk about that. But there's such a taboo around the idea of people who are sectioned. They are beyond the pale."

"It felt really important to say, 'I went through this,' " she added. "Lots of people go through this. That doesn't mean they are bad or f---ed up forever."

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.

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