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'It was a gorilla sitting on my chest': Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall reveals her battle with chronic insomnia that forced her to pull out of West End show

The actress' struggle forced her to leave the play Linda in London last year
Cattrall, 59, said strain was like 'a tsunami' and being trapped 'in a void'
Said pulling out of show was crucial so she could work on mental health

Published: 01:07 GMT, 7 June 2016 | Updated: 06:59 GMT, 7 June 2016

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Kim Cattrall has revealed her battle with chronic insomnia, saying the strain was 'like a gorilla sitting on my chest' - and forced her to pull out of a West End show

Kim Cattrall has revealed her battle with chronic insomnia, saying the strain was 'like a gorilla sitting on my chest'.

The Sex And The City star's struggle with sleeplessness led to her pulling out of a West End production of Penelope Skinner's play Linda last year.

The 59-year-old told the Radio Times of her condition: 'It was a gorilla sitting on my chest.

'I didn't understand the debilitating consequence of having no sleep.

'It becomes a tsunami. I was in a void.'

Cattrall said she didn't want to disappoint the audience, the theatre or her co-stars, but believed leaving the show was crucial to her mental health.

'Letting go of all that was the hardest part but I realised the work that I really needed to do was more important than the play - it was work on my sanity,' she said.

Asked if her sanity had been at risk, she said: 'Coming back to the US, I hadn't slept for 48 hours and had to wait six hours to get my 18-year-old cat through customs.

'When the customs officer said, 'So, how much is your cat worth?' I couldn't stop laughing hysterically.'

The actress left the production at the Royal Court Theatre in London during rehearsals and she was replaced by Noma Dumezweni.

Cattrall faced criticism for pulling out but said she was not interested in listening to that 'noise'.

Cattrall faced criticism for pulling out but said she was not interested in listening to that 'noise' (pictured Noma Dumezweni)

Noma Dumezweni (pictured right in the play) replaced the actress when she pulled out of the West End production

'I have my own voice on social media, where I can say: if you're interested in what really happened, the whole story is more complex than being a disease of the week, than someone saying, "I have this battle",' she said.

The actress said she had tried cognitive behaviour therapy to help cope with insomnia.

'It's like putting on a pair of sneakers and going into your past to get a new perspective.

'And I was gentle with myself.

'So last Christmas wasn't about friends and relations; it was a monastic experience of trying to delve.'