Hannah Murray - ‘Everything Fell Apart’
From How To Fail With Elizabeth Day by Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment
June 3, 2026 · 1h 2m · Season 20 · Episode 166
About this episode
Hannah Murray discusses her journey through fame, mental health struggles, and the importance of addressing severe mental health conditions in society.
Hannah Murray found fame when she was just 17, playing the self-destructive Cassie in E4’s Skins. She juggled an English degree at Cambridge University alongside playing Gilly in HBO’s Game Of Thrones and went on to film Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. When the physical and mental stress required from these roles began to take its toll, Murray sought treatment from a reiki healer. From there, her life began to spiral as she became heavily involved with a ‘healing’ organisation whose promises of real-life magic and enlightenment were increasingly seductive. She ended up being sectioned after a psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Now, she has written her first book. The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness is a deeply personal account of these events, written with compulsive lyricism. It takes readers on a journey to the edges of reality, where magic is possible, and where the liminal space between what is real and what is imagined becomes ever more porous. In this episode we delve into Hannah’s breakdown and what it taught her. We discuss living with BPD, her decision to quit acting and why, as a society, it’s so important to talk about severe…
People in this episode
Host: Elizabeth Day
Guest: Hannah Murray
Topics covered
- mental health
- bipolar disorder
- acting
- wellness
- personal memoir
- psychotic break
Keywords
- Hannah Murray
- bipolar disorder
- mental health
- wellness
- memoir
- acting
- psychotic break
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: E4, HBO, Detroit
Books & works: The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness
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