Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams has spoken for the first time about being preyed on by internet trolls and says cyberbullying has 'hurt' her.

Her honest admission comes in an exclusive behind the scenes video ahead of new Channel 4 drama Cyberbully, in which the actress stars.

In the exclusive footage 17-year-old Maisie talks to the camera about her own experience of being bullied online and the 'emotional rollercoaster' of filming the drama.

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In Cyberbully, due to air next week, Maisie stars as a teenager battling with an anonymous cyber-stalker

The mini documentary starts with footage from the actress's casting tape with the emphatic words: 'Everything gets slated on the internet. If you post something up there someone’s going to say something about it.'

Later in the video Maisie admits cyberbullying is something she understands only too well.

'I encounter trolls on the internet firsthand all the time,' she confesses.

'As soon as someone finds out something you’re insecure about or that bothers you, they will use that against you, which is awful.

'It’s easy to say, "It’s just a troll - they don’t know you", but it does hurt.'

Eighteen-year-old Maisie (above in role as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones) says cyberbullying 'hurts'

The Game Of Thrones actress has spoken for the first time about being preyed on by internet trolls

In Cyberbully, due to air next week, Maisie stars as teenager Casey battling with an anonymous cyber-stalker.

'Casey is a very normal teenager who expresses herself through alias names on the internet. There she can post what she finds happy and what she finds sad, until someone takes over her computer and makes her out to be some she isn’t,' explains the Bristol-born actress.

'Everyone can be portrayed as something different if someone has access to all of their files.'

The actress is hoping the drama is an honest representation for teenagers who themselves experience bullying online.

'What we wanted the audience to take away from this was an honest representation of teens on the internet - without being patronising or using embarrassing text speak.

'As soon as you put in too many LOLs teenagers switch off because they don’t think it's honest,' she adds.

Channel 4 says the plot of Cyberbully is inspired by dozens of real-life cases.



For more advice or if someone has acted inappropriately online, see ceop.police.uk.