Black Panther star Letitia Wright says God got her through crippling depression

Letitia Wright as Shuri in "Black Panther."Marvel

Black Panther star Letitia Wright has revealed that her depression was so bad a few years ago that she nearly quit acting.

Despite her growing success as an actor, she says she was in a 'deep state of depression' but managed to pull through with the help of her faith, family and making it to the shortlist of the 2015 Bafta Breakthrough Brits. 

After winning the Bafta Rising Star Award on Sunday - the one award from the awards night that is voted for by the public - she talked about how things have slowly got better. 

'A few years ago I saw myself in a deep state of depression and I literally wanted to quit acting,' she said.

'The only thing that pulled me out of it was God, my belief, my faith and my family, and an email from Bafta asking me to become part of the Bafta Breakthrough Brits.

'I was like: "Let me try again".

Since 2015, Wright has enjoyed phenomenal success, with starring roles in blockbuster hits Avengers: Infinity War and Black Mirror in addition to Black Panther

She shared that her recovery is still ongoing and that her faith, family and team are as important to her as ever. 

'This wasn't an overnight thing, this wasn't a click of a finger success, and I'm still a work in progress, but I want to thank God, my family, my team,' she said. 

'I want to thank everybody who said "yes" to me, that gave me a chance, and just saw my talent and saw what God placed in me, and said "yes".'

She went on to offer a word of encouragement to young people and 'anyone going through a hard time' to remember that God loves them. 

'God made you and you're important, there might be some of you here who might be going through a hard time,' she said.

'I just want to encourage you and God loves you. Just let your light shine.

'And the category I'm in... this means so much to me, you guys all inspire me. All of you have inspired me so much, so God bless you, thank you, Jesus thank you, thank you.'