Slow Horses star Olivia Cooke reveals health condition forced her to take a six-month break

Olivia Cooke has opened up about the debilitating health condition she suffered that forced her to take a six-month break. The Slow Horses star next appears on screen in Anton Corbijn's A Talent for Murder, alongside Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich.

But the TV and film star took a lengthy step back from filming commitments after contracting shingles, with her recovery taking six months.

In an interview with GQ, Cooke spoke about the "two welts on each bum cheek" she has acquired from injecting shingles medication, a disease that forced her to take several months away from work.

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Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful, blistering skin rash, caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox.

"I had a two-month period where I couldn’t do small talk. Someone was like, 'How are you?' and I was like, 'Yeah, I’ve had shingles,'" she said.

The actor said the illness began while she was staying with her House of the Dragon castmate, Gayle Rankin, in New York, and she returned to London for treatment
before taking a six-month break to recover.

"I feel like the past two years, I’ve been, like, jobs, jobs, jobs, and I got really burnt out," she said. "Your body has a way of flooring you to make sure that you do actually lie down."

"I was like a real housewife, like, horribly, but I enjoyed it. I was cooking different meals every day and sorting my cupboards out," she added.

Related: Slow Horses star Olivia Cooke addresses future of show after season 6 finale

During the break, she also opened up about deleting her social media accounts as she felt she was "on them too much" and it was "not nourishing".

"I think the celebri-fied nature of being an actor has now snowballed into this monster," she continued.

"I just think we need to get off this train and realise that we make these TV shows and films, yes, for escapism, but also because it’s artful and it’s creative and it’s not for followers or for a brand deal or to get free shit. Even though that is nice sometimes."

A Talent for Murder is released in UK cinemas on 20 November.

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Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy Rebecca is a freelance journalist who specializes in TV and film. After beginning her career as a digital entertainment journalist for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, she embarked on a freelance career in 2021 contributing to the likes of Metro UK, The Sun, WhatCulture, Screen Rant, FilmHounds Magazine and more. Her particular field of interest is horror cinema and she has written for genre publications such as Ghouls Magazine and Moving Pictures Film Club. LinkedIn