Skip to content

Hannah Murray: When the Character Takes Over

June 4, 2026 · 51 min

Show notes

In this episode of Character Study, Freya sits down with Hannah Murray: actor, author and now writer, best known for playing Cassie in Skins and Gilly in Game of Thrones.

Hannah's debut memoir The Make Believe explores fame, mental illness and the blurring of the line between magic and reality. They talk about what it means to build an identity around being chosen — as an actor, as a romantic partner, as a spiritual seeker — and what happens when that external validation disappears. Hannah opens up about her involvement in a wellness organisation that led to a psychiatric breakdown, the seductive appeal of magical thinking, and why writing her memoir felt like the most authentic creative act of her life.


This is a conversation about the stories we tell ourselves, the gap between imagination and reality, and what it really means to make yourself up.


🎥 WATCH the full episode here: https://youtu.be/QODMs-gDC6g

📘 Buy Hannah Murray's The Make Believe and remember you can now pre-order Freya's novel: A Real Piece of Work.

💛 Follow @freybromley on Instagram for updates and to ask your questions

📚 Join Freya's newsletter at freyabromley.substack.com for behind the scenes thoughts

🎙️And hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All episodes of Character Study

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.