Maisie Williams found the first half of her 20s "just hell".
The 29-year-old actress was just 13 when she was cast as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones but she struggled in the wake of the fantasy drama series ending in 2019 because she didn't know where life would take her next, and she was also trying to unpick her childhood, which saw her parents split when she was a baby and her dad no longer being part of her life.
She told The Guardian: “The first half of my 20s was just hell, but I think maybe it is for a lot of people.
“I think that has more to do with the fact that Game of Thrones was ending, and I didn’t know what I was going to do next, and I just needed a break, to be honest with you.
"And then it also has to do with delayed teenage awkward years, and figuring a lot of things out that I felt like maybe I couldn’t do much earlier than that. And also Covid, and also an industry strike."
However, Maisie - who split from fashion designer Reuben Selby in February 2023 - noted she has been very happy with her life over the last few years because she's learned to put herself first.
She added: “But post-2023, every day has been getting better.
“I started seeing my friends again. I moved out of London. I was living alone. I was back with my dog. Everything was different.
“At that point, it was time to … Just choose myself.
“What always comes into my mind is Kim Cattrall, ‘I don’t want to be anywhere, not even for an hour, where I’m not enjoying myself.’ That’s truly how I’ve been the last three years.”
The Practical Magic 2 actress' new approach has meant “a lot of quiet, a lot of reading, and writing, and yoga, and running, and exercise, and swimming, and cycling, and walking the dog. Walking the dog for, like, hours a day.”
She added: "Because then I know what I want. And that can be going out with my friends all weekend, or it can be a fun dinner in London where you miss your last train home, or it can be going to the cinema alone.”
Maisie is currently dating and "so happy", but declined to say who she is romancing.
Asked if she's been playing the field, she said: “No! I’m in love. That’s all I’ll say.”
And quizzed on whether it feels different to previous relationships, she added: “Yes, which is good. There’s lots of laughter.”
