Olivia Cooke felt 'quite ill' living abroad on her own
Actress Olivia Cooke first moved abroad on her own aged 21, and having no familiar faces around made the star feel "quite ill".
Olivia Cooke felt "lonely and quite ill" when she lived abroad alone at a young age.
The 31-year-old actress moved from the UK to New York aged 21 - the first time she had lived away from her mum's house in Oldham, North West England - before going to Vancouver, Canada, and Los Angeles whilst filming multiple TV shows.
She explained in The Observer Magazine: "I was so career-focused back then, and I didn't really have a base.
"All my friends were here, and I didn't have many people around me. I was really lonely and quite ill."
But Olivia had to keep going because she was living her dream as an actress.
She added: "Who am I to say no?
"This was my dream come true, and I had nothing else to fall back on."
The House of the Dragon star - who almost lived off tuna pasta for years - said the experience was a "real awakening" into life as an adult.
Olivia said: "It was a real awakening into adulthood.
"I realise now just how young I was. In your early 20s, it's like being on a rollercoaster while trying to do mascara.
"It's a tough, lonely life, especially when you don't have the tools to look after yourself.
"It wasn't much more than a decade ago, but self-care wasn't really in our vocabulary. You unpack it later down the road in therapy when you're like, 'What is this malaise that I feel all the time?'"
The Girlfriend actress - who grew up in Oldham, just outside of Manchester, North West England - moved back to the UK aged 26 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Olivia - who never regarded the US as home - said: "Overnight, I felt way more centred and lighter.
"I'm a British girl who just loves a pub and a good hill walk."
Now living in London, the Game of Thrones star - who was rejected a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) aged 18 - feels happy to be settled.
Olivia said: "I feel like I was on a kind of pilgrimage from 18 to 26, so it's been nice to settle.
"I can feel my feet growing roots."
