Sam Mendes recalls childhood trauma in new interview

Sam Mendes recalled his childhood traumatic memories in the latest interview.

The film director and screenwriter, 57, opened up about his childhood and being raised by a single mother in a new interview, following his parents' divorce when he was just three.

Mendes admitted that he had to 'parent' his own mother, Valerie, from a young age - growing up faster than most as he watched her 'manipulated' by men.

And this upbringing was the inspiration for his new and extremely personal movie Empire Of Light, which is based on his mother's battle with mental health.

Sam was three when his parents, children's novelist/author Valerie and university professor Jameson Peter Mendes split.

This left Valerie a single mother to the budding film buff, who explains that this was also a large role for him to take on as the male of the house.

Talking with The Guardian, he explained: 'When you’re a child, you deal with what’s in front of you. And what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

'It definitely gave me resources, but it also turned me into a caretaker. In a sense, I was parenting my own mother.'

Touching on his mother, now 83, and her battle with mental health, Sam said: 'Even as a child, I could see that my mother, when she was medicated or controlled, was being manipulated, mostly by men.

He drew on these experiences for Empire Of Light, which is a romance/drama that focuses on a single woman with mental health struggles.