'The Odyssey' Star Samantha Morton Recalls Being Homeless Amid Her Parents’ Mental Health and Addiction Struggles

Samantha Morton opened up about one of the darkest periods of her life, revealing that she experienced homelessness as a teenager.

The Odyssey actress, 49, told The Sunday Times that her childhood was shaped by foster care, instability, abuse, her mother’s mental health struggles and her father’s alcoholism.

Reflecting on being called resilient when she was younger, Morton admitted the word carries a much darker meaning for her.

“I went pillar to post with foster families, homeless hostels, sleeping by the bins at the back of the Co-op, because it was too dangerous to go back to the children’s home because of the abuse," she said.

“I have made choices that have always been about survival, because I watched my mum trying to survive and I watched my dad trying to survive," she added.

The BAFTA-winning actress is the daughter of Pamela Morton, a factory worker who died from lung cancer in 2017, and Peter Morton, a coal miner who died in 2025.

In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Samantha revealed that she lived between her separated parents’ homes until she was 8, when she became a ward of court and was placed under legal guardianship.

Reflecting on the abuse she experienced as a child, she said, “I think anybody who has been abused as a kid — and I was abused as a kid, by various people — will say it’s irrational because violence is irrational.”

The interview also detailed how she left school at 13 and spent much of her early adolescence moving between foster homes and care facilities. She revealed that she was homeless for “almost a year,” sleeping at friends’ houses and in bus shelters.

Despite the trauma she experienced, The Walking Dead star insisted that she never blamed either of her parents for what happened.

“Always authority. Always the establishment. That’s because I grew up in Nottinghamshire in the 80s with Margaret Thatcher destroying everything. Just because somebody doesn’t bring up their children or can’t look after their children doesn’t make them a bad person. There are all sorts of reasons … illness. There are so many reasons you can end up in care," she said at the time.

Samantha also reflected on the lasting impact of her childhood and the grief she is still carrying after losing both her sister and her father in recent years.

“My relationship with my past changes as I age and my children age, but things keep happening. I sadly lost my sister on April 22 this year. She was 53. And I am still dealing with the coroners. And the trauma. I lost my real father 18 months ago. Trauma," she said.

“So the past is always with me and I’m not saying I’m not going to be all right next week, but every day I wake, say a prayer and say, ‘Please help me,’” she continued.

Today, however, the actress said she is grateful for the life she has built and the career that helped her find purpose after years of hardship.

“My job is my salvation,” Samantha said before adding, “Well, salvation is a bit strong, but I hope I’ll act until I literally stop living. Because this? It really does feel like a dream.”