Maisie Williams got real about fixating on “all the things I hate about myself,” and we’re listening

Game of Thrones fans know Maisie Williams as the courageous and badass Arya Stark. She’s been in our lives for eight years, and it feels like we’ve watched her grow up. However, being on such a popular show from a young age has its challenges, and Williams recently shared that being in the spotlight has taken a toll on her self-esteem.

In a recent episode of the podcast Happy Place, Williams shared that she’s felt pressure to be the perfect role model, especially for other young people. But eventually, she said, the pressure made her feel unsatisfied with herself.

"Last year, in my own personal life, I think I just went through a lot of real revelations where I was like, 'I'm not very happy doing this and pretending everything was fine,'" she explained. "After going through that, I think now I've tried to just be a lot more genuine."

The 22-year-old actress also admitted that she can still be hard on herself.

"I'm definitely not, like, model human," she said. "I still lie in bed at like 11 o'clock at night telling myself all the things I hate about myself. There's still like a journey I think. But at least dropping the act and just being who you truly are, I think that's definitely a first step and not trying to be who you want me to be right now in this moment."

The brilliant ⁦@Maisie_Williams⁩ on this weeks Happy Place ❤️ pic.twitter.com/orFoYUqgCr

— fearne cotton (@Fearnecotton) May 14, 2019

Later, she said that she has struggled with feelings of sadness—something that she worries could happen again.

"I think there was a period of time where I was very sad, and then I came out of that, and now it's just really terrifying that you're ever going to slip back into it," she said. "That's still something that I'm really working on, because I think that's really hard. It's really hard to feel sad and not feel completely defeated by it."

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Struggling with self-love is incredibly common, and we’re giving Williams so much credit for discussing this candidly. It’s a solid reminder that we’re absolutely not alone when we feel this way, and that we could all stand to be a little kinder to ourselves.

If you’re dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts, you can contact the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.