Maisie Williams suffered nightmares and sleep paralysis
Maisie Williams suffered from nightmares and sleep paralysis while working on 'The New Look'.
The 'Game of Thrones' actress plays World War II resistance fighter Catherine Dior - sister of fashion designer Christian Dior - in the upcoming drama series and she embarked on a gruelling diet to lose weight to portray the character, who had returned to Paris after being detained in a Nazi concentration camp.
Maisie told Harper’s Bazaar UK: "It was a long job, and it was amazing; my whole life moved to Paris. It was hard work, but it was such an honour to do this part, and it became all-consuming ...
"I was eating very little, meditating all the time, burning candles and incense in my apartment. I had to be up at 4am to start sweating. The night before, at about 7 or 8pm I was allowed to have something salty and dehydrating – some smoked salmon and a tiny glass of wine.
"Then I had a boiling-hot bath with lots of salts in it. And I sort of levitated to bed and slept for maybe three hours, and woke up and had a handful of nuts.
"I wouldn't be able to sleep through the night at this point. I kept waking up and feeling like a marble inside a bottle, rattling around ... "
Maisie went on to reveal the little sleep she got was ruined by nightmares. She added of her troubled dreams: "[It was] a lot of feeling restricted, almost like sleep paralysis, dreams of being trapped and attacked, and horrible visions of men in uniform."
She went on to add: "Every day of filming was a reminder that we were portraying a story of the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another, but also the magic and the hope and the love … Ultimately, we wanted to make a show that was uplifting."
The latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK is on sale from February 8.
'The New Look' launches on Apple TV Plus on February 14.
