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Anya Taylor-Joy had bad days in lockdown

Anya Taylor-Joy has had days of feeling "like s**t" during lockdown.

The ‘Emma’ actress – who has spoken about her battle with anxiety in the past – thinks it is vital for people to understand the world is going through a "massive trauma" due to the coronavirus pandemic, which stirs up a lot of emotions, and urged them to follow her lead and try to be kind to themselves.

She told Metro newspaper: "I think it’s about understanding that every day is different and you just have to sail the waves of that particular day.

"Sometimes that can be a pressure to think ‘I am not allowed to feel sad because other people have it harder right now’.

"While you can be aware that you are in a very lucky position, a lot of people are really struggling right now.

" It is essential, especially now when we are maybe spending so much time in our own heads, that we are gentle and understand that the world is going through a massive trauma — if you weren’t feeling that at all then you probably wouldn’t really be alive.

"If you do feel like s**t — and I have definitely had a couple of episodes — just look after yourself as best you can. Have a hot bath, do something that makes you really happy, curl up with a film that makes you feel a little more complete and just know that it will pass."

Despite her bad days, the 24-year-old star is looking at her period of isolation as a time to relax and do things for herself.

She said: "A little while ago, Autumn [de Wilde, the director of ‘Emma’] said to me, ‘This is the time for you to do what teenagers did when you were working,’ like daydreaming and doing collages on your wall and just sitting around and listening to music and reading books.

"It does feel quite nice because I haven’t really had a second to breathe in the last couple of years. So it feels like I am sort of tending to the Anya part of my life, rather than a character, for the first time in a long time."