‘At 16 I was in a homeless hostel’: Samantha Morton shares insight into her difficult childhood and how acting ‘saved’ her

Samantha Morton's career spans more than three decades, and she's appeared in high profile films and TV shows including Band of Gold, The Walking Dead, and The Serpent Queen.

Currently appearing in Christopher Nolan's smash hit The Odyssey, the actress has recently shared insight into her very difficult childhood, also revealing that while her career has been hugely successful, she hasn't worked for over a year.

Appearing on Joshua Harowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Samantha reveals that after growing up in foster homes, acting "saved my life."

"I was taken into care as a baby," she shares, adding, "my parents weren't able to look after me - it was very complex, my dad was in and out of prison and I'd be on a care order."

Sometimes this meant the actress would be living with her dad, and "then he'd go back into prison and I'd be in a foster home."

Samantha continues, "At 16 I was living in a homeless hostel, and that was where I wrote my first play."

This was the start of the star being able to build her career and get herself out of the difficult situation she was living in.

She was "sometimes allowed to go to" a local drama workshop while residing at the hostel, and the man who ran it gave her a train fair to go to London, to allow her to audition for a TV show.

"That week I got that role, then I got an agent, then I did Band of Gold, and the rest is history," she explains.

Poignantly, Samantha says, "Acting saved me life." However, she also reveals that faith played a part in helping her get to where she wanted to be.

"I'm a firm believer in god," she says, adding, "I think that my faith gave me the ability to feel loved, when human beings and society were quite cruel."

Despite everything she's overcome and the huge success she's experienced as an actress, Samantha also reveals she hasn't worked for a year since filming The Odyssey.

In the film, she portrays Circe, a witch and goddess on the island of Aeaea. "At the end of the day, I’m 49. I do believe I’m a good actor, [but] there are other good actors out there" she says candidly.

However, she appears assured that more projects will come along in the future. "I feel confident, with the ups and the downs, that I will keep working, till I’m in my 80s or whatever, touch wood," she says.

She adds, "But it’s more that, for me, I got to work with Christopher Nolan in my lifetime. That’s it. I’m happy now. I mean, I was happy before, I’ve worked with some brilliant people, but as an actor, you’re always at the mercy of who your employer is and what they expect of you and what they believe in you to do for them."

As well as being in awe of working with Nolan, Samantha is also completely enamoured with the concepts conveyed in The Odyssey.

"Being part of something that’s bigger than any individual is really important in this day and age, because we’re living in the age of the I, the me, the Instagram, the selfie, the ego, and The Odyssey is the opposite of that," she shares.

The actress concludes, "It’s a deeply human, spiritual experience for me personally, when I saw the film for the first time. So, to be part of that is incredible. Obviously, it’s awesome."