Game of Thrones actress Hannah Murray has revealed how she was drawn into a wellness cult, culminating in a psychotic break that required hospitalisation. The 35-year-old, known for playing Gilly in the fantasy series and Cassie Ainsworth in Skins, shared her experience in a new memoir, The Make-Believe.
Murray met an “energy healer” named Grace in 2016 while filming the movie Detroit. Introduced by her personal trainer, Grace exploited Murray’s vulnerability after a nude scene left her feeling exposed. Murray told The Guardian she “ignored so many little things” that didn’t add up, including claims about activating “spiritual DNA using powerful and ancient tools”.
She was later introduced to Sioban, whom she paid £700 for lessons on protecting herself from others’ energy. Murray became addicted to courses called Ritual Master Novice, Ritual Master Apprentice, and Ritual Master Magus Hermeticus, promising healing. “I wanted to go further and further, as far as you could go,” she wrote.
After a five-day course led by a man named Steve, Murray became exhausted and erratic. One night, she experienced a mental break, hearing Steve’s voice in her head and hallucinating diagrams on people’s necks. She locked herself in a cubicle, and after someone called for help, she was rushed to hospital and detained for 28 days under the Mental Health Act.
Murray’s memoir, set for release in summer 2026 by Hutchinson Heinemann after a 13-way auction, explores the “lure” of those who claim to save us and the deceptive structures of wellness organisations. Publisher Helen Conford described it as a story about “the blurred line between what is real and what is an illusion”.
